Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp., through its wholly-owned subsidiary Seanergy Shipmanagement Corp., is the first Greek-based shipping company to accomplish a strategic partnership in the European Union Funded SAFeCRAFT Project Consortium (“Safecraft”), a breakthrough initiative concerning the utilization of alternative fuels.
Safecraft aims to demonstrate the safety and viability of Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAFs) in seaborne transportation, accelerating the adoption of SAFs technologies.
Seanergy will provide one of its existing, conventionally fueled Capesize vessels as the demonstrating vessel under Safecraft which will be retrofitted to utilize hydrogen (H2) as the main energy source for electric power generation. This system is also expected to cover a portion of the vessel’s propulsion requirements and, therefore, to reduce reliance on conventional fuels.
Seanergy will oversee the feasibility study and the retrofitting of the equipment in cooperation with Hydrus Engineering S.A., American Bureau of Shipping, National Technical University of Athens, MOTOR OIL (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A., University of Patras, Dresden University of Technology, RINA Services SPA, Pherousa Green Technologies AS, Foundation WEGEMT and University of Strathclyde, aiming to physically demonstrate this groundbreaking technology’s applicability to the existing maritime fleet.
This visionary project has a duration of 48 months starting from December 2023 and will be co-funded by the consortium partners and the European Union’s key funding program for research and innovation, the “Horizon Europe” program, aligning with the FuelEU Maritime 2040 targets and demonstrating a decisive ambition to achieve a 26% reduction of CO2eq in an existing vessel.
Stamatis Tsantanis, the Company’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“We are the first Greek-based shipping company on this groundbreaking project. The strategic partnership with the European Union and key industry stakeholders is another major achievement of our Company towards our global ESG objectives. Safecraft is advancing our proven strategy of making the current vessels more efficient and potentially reducing radically GHG emissions by utilizing alternative fuels and new technologies on the existing fleet.
“This prominent combination of world-renowned stakeholders consists of classification societies, engineering and industrial firms, the academic community, as well as the European Union. Our collaborative approach will actively contribute to the development of green solutions for the existing fleet, revealing solutions that have an immediate impact.”
Vasileios G. Petousis, the Company’s Energy & Sustainability Manager, stated:
“We actively pursue advanced operational and technical initiatives that place Seanergy at the forefront of a greener maritime industry as a notable example.
“We strive for a more sustainable course of operations and we constantly evaluate and further improve the Company’s ESG milestones in an effort to meet the global environmental targets through tangible and proven solutions.”
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
