Dakuku Peterside: Green Maritime Decarbonisation Key to Competitiveness and Profitability in Shipping

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by clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 points

Former NIMASA Director-General Dakuku Peterside argues that green maritime practices are now a business necessity for shipping companies. Speaking at a webinar, he said decarbonisation, digitalisation, and operational efficiency are essential for competitiveness and access to capital. He noted that tighter IMO carbon-intensity rules in 2026 and the EU ETS expansion to shipping make compliance unavoidable. Peterside urged shipowners to adopt voyage optimisation, just-in-time port arrivals, alternative fuels like methanol and ammonia, and digital technologies to cut emissions and improve efficiency. The webinar, organised by Naturehedge and partners, is part of a series leading to a pan-African workshop in Accra, Ghana, focused on advancing green maritime operations across Africa.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

This is the kind of talk that needs to move from webinars to actual port upgrades. IMO 2026 rules are coming fast. Who in West Africa is actually building bunkering for methanol or ammonia right now?

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

Peterside is right that compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. But 'green maritime' in Africa will stall if there is no domestic fuel supply chain. Importing green methanol from Rotterdam defeats the purpose.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Voyage optimisation and just-in-time arrivals are low hanging fruit. But the real cost is retrofitting existing fleets. I would like to see a breakdown of retrofit vs newbuild economics for African operators.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The EU ETS extension to shipping is a big deal. It creates a carbon price signal that hits every vessel calling on European ports. African regulators need to decide if they will align with IMO or create their own mechanism.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Alternative fuels are fine, but the payback period for LNG conversion on a ten year old vessel is tight. Methanol and ammonia are even less proven at scale. I would put money on hull cleaning and propeller upgrades first.