Showcasing their eco-friendly approach, Turkish shipyards have produced more than half of their entire tonnage in 2023 with "green ships," according to a report on Tuesday, pointing to the strong standards of domestic industry and its adjustment to the trends as the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources gains momentum.
The shift to clean and renewable energy sources is accelerating worldwide in various sectors, from electricity generation to electric vehicles (EVs) and green-fueled ships.
In this context, the Turkish maritime industry also focuses on producing green ships to minimize carbon emissions from ship fuel consumption.
Last year, Turkish shipyards produced a notable number of ships, including electric ferries, liquefied natural gas (LNG) passenger ferries and electric harbor tugboats. The total tonnage of ship production by these shipyards last year was 79,144 gross tons, of which 49,417 gross tons were green ships.
Tamer Kıran, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul and Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions (IMEAK) Chamber of Shipping, highlighted in an interview with an Anadolu Agency (AA) that Türkiye has become a country achieving great success in shipbuilding, repair, maintenance and refitting.
"As of 2023, our number of shipyards has increased to 85, and our annual production capacity has risen to 4.8 million deadweight tons."
Kıran noted that Europe is the most important market for Türkiye's shipbuilding industry and added, "The European Union's Green Deal has led to a shift towards different areas and resulted in an increase in orders for environmentally friendly, alternative-fuel, electric and hybrid ships."
Furthermore, Kıran pointed out that the shipbuilding industry, which faced significant challenges in securing new shipbuilding orders during the 2008 global economic crisis and the subsequent pandemic period, has turned to the construction of specialized ships due to this new situation, alongside defense industry projects and maintenance-repair activities.
Emphasizing that high-value-added maritime vessels are produced in their shipyards, he said, "Our shipbuilding industry makes us proud by producing many firsts and innovations during this rapid transformation process."
"As of 2023, approximately 65% of our country's shipbuilding industry production consists of green ships," he added.
He also said that about 60% of the ships produced within the shipyards find their export destination in European countries and that most are green ships.
Giving examples of green ships produced in Turkish shipyards, Kıran cited the world's largest fully electric ferry, the LNG passenger ferry boat with the largest battery capacity, the world's first battery-powered fully electric harbor tugboat, which he said "are indicators of the latest stage we have reached in maritime technology."
"These firsts and orders from developed countries like the Netherlands, Norway and Finland have made our shipbuilding industry a global brand. Today, our shipyards rank second in the world in megayacht and tugboat production, sixth in ferry and excursion boat production and first in fishing vessel exports," he said.
Moreover, he highlighted that maritime transport is more environmentally friendly in terms of carbon emissions compared to other modes of transport.
"Maritime transport is the lifeblood and backbone of global trade and economy. At the same time, it is seen that maritime transport carries goods cheaply, in large volumes and with minimal environmental impact," said Kıran.
Touching upon measures and goals of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the EU Emissions Trading System under the Green Deal, he also emphasized that the Turkish maritime industry closely follows sectoral and all the measures related to climate change.
"The sector is making serious efforts for the development of zero-emission ships and the decarbonization of the maritime sector. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to build ships using low or zero greenhouse gas emission renewable alternative fuels, and it is anticipated that 102,000 ships worldwide will be renewed by 2050," he explained.
"Our country's shipyards have become one of the top three countries globally in the construction of battery-powered ships using electric energy, and they have subsequently started building ships powered by hydrogen, methanol and LNG."
Kıran also explained that conversion projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of existing ships have also been implemented in Turkish shipyards and concluded by saying that conversion projects such as high-efficiency propellers and rudder-propeller systems to improve propulsion efficiency have been successfully carried out and that work in this area would continue.
.
