Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Michael Parker News

30 Mar 2023

Headwinds Hamper the Poseidon Principles

Copyright Bojan/AdobeStock

The Poseidon Principles provide a platform for financing shippingā€™s sustainable future, but the technical guidance underpinning the initiative remains under scrutiny.In July 2023, the International Maritime Organizationā€™s Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider revising the UN agencyā€™s strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Moving on from a current target to reduce CO2 emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050, based on 2008 levels,  influential administrations seek to accelerate towards net-zero or even zero by 2050.

22 Mar 2023

Headwinds for the Poseidon Principles

Copyright zwiebackesser/AdobeStock

The Poseidon Principles provide a platform for financing shippingā€™s sustainable future, but the technical guidance underpinning the initiative remains under scrutiny.In July 2023, the International Maritime Organizationā€™s Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider revising the UN agencyā€™s strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Moving on from a current target to reduce CO2 emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050, based on 2008 levels, influentialā€¦

14 Mar 2023

Fremantle Ports Orders New Pilot Boats

(Photo: Dongara Marine)

Western Australiaā€™s Fremantle Ports has awarded a $7.6m contract to Geraldton boat and ship builders, Dongara Marine, to construct two new pilot boats to enhance its small boat fleet.The first pilot boat is scheduled for delivery in mid-2024 and the second later that yearFremantle Ports CEO Michael Parker said the new pilot vessels would be pivotal in the organization's continued delivery of an efficient and highly-reliable service to ship owners, shipping agents and customers.ā€œAt the core of our operations is the safeā€¦

11 Jul 2022

Ships Get Older and Slower as Emissions Rules Bite

Ā©OlegD/AdobeStock

If shipping is the beating heart of global trade, its pulse is about to get slower. Faced with uncertainty about which fuels to use in the long term to cut greenhouse gas emissions, many shipping firms are sticking with aging fleets, but older vessels may soon have to start sailing slower to comply with new environmental rules.From next year, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all ships to calculate their annual carbon intensity based on a vessel's emissionsā€¦

20 Apr 2021

UK: Port of London's Rodrigues Named Chair of Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Christopher Rodrigues - Credit: PLA

The UK Secretary of State for Transport has appointed Christopher Rodrigues CBE as the new Non-Executive Chair of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the government agency responsible for preventing the loss of life on the coast and at sea, as well as producing legislation and guidance on maritime matters.Rodrigues brings extensive international experience as a chair of public, private, and government sector bodies in tourism, the arts, and public diplomacy and since 2016 as chair of the Port of Londonā€¦

16 Mar 2021

Top Japanese Lenders Join Shipping Industry Scheme to Cut Carbon

Ā© Photo Gallery / Adobe Stock

Leading Japanese lenders have joined an initiative that links the provision of shipping finance to cuts in carbon dioxide emissions as the sector accelerates efforts to go green.In recent weeks, Shinsei Bank Ltd, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing and MUFG Bank have signed up to the scheme, the banks said.With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the worldā€™s CO2 emissions.In 2019, a group of leading banks signed up to environmental commitments known as the ā€œPoseidon Principlesā€ā€¦

15 Dec 2020

Ship Finance Lenders Fall Short of Sector's Carbon Targets

Ā© Alexey Lesik / Adobe Stock

Many of the worldā€™s biggest lenders to shipping companies fell short of carbon-cutting targets last year in the first analysis of CO2 goals for the sector by financiers, a report showed on Wednesday.Global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the worldā€™s CO2 emissions and the industry is under pressure to reduce those emissions and other pollution. About 90% of world trade is transported by sea.Last year, a group of leading banks signed up to environmental commitments known as the Poseidon Principlesā€¦

02 Feb 2020

Poseidon Readies $140Bn Shipping Loan

With the signing by the France-based international lender to global shipping BNP Paribas and the Swiss multinational investment bank Credit Suisse, Signatories of the Poseidon Principles represent around $140 billion in loans to international shipping ā€“ about 30% of the total global ship finance portfolio.Poseidon Principles is a global framework for responsible ship finance which helps incentivize shippingā€™s decarbonization.They establish a common framework to quantitatively assess and disclose whether financial institutionsā€™ lending portfolios are in line with climate goals set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specializedā€¦

20 Jan 2020

IMO's 2050 Decarbonization Target Has $1 Trillion Pricetag

Ā© Martin Lueke / Adobe Stock

At least $1 trillion of investment in new fuel technology is needed to enable the shipping industry to meet U.N. targets for cuts in carbon emissions by 2050, a study published on Monday showed.The global shipping fleet, which accounts for 2.2% of the world's CO2 emissions, is under pressure to reduce those emissions and other pollution. About 90% of world trade is transported by sea.U.N. shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), aims to reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050ā€¦

22 Aug 2019

'Green' Focus for Citigroup's Shipping Finance Chair

AdobeStock / (c) 14KT Gold

Citigroup's veteran shipping finance banker Michael Parker is to become chairman of the bank's shipping & logistics business, a role which will include bolstering the lender's environmental focus in the sector, Citi said on Thursday.In June, Citi was among a group of leading banks who signed up to environmental commitments known as the "Poseidon Principles."These will for the first time integrate efforts to cut CO2 emissions into banks' decision making when providing loans to shipping companies.The initiative highlights how businesses are having to respond to moves by investors around the worl

18 Jun 2019

Being Green: Banks Consider CO2 Emissions in Shipping Loans

Ā© Elnur/AdobeStock

A group of leading banks will for the first time include efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions in their decision making when providing shipping company loans, executives said on Tuesday.International shipping accounts for 2.2% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO), has a long-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.Working with non-profit organisations the Global Maritime Forum, the Rocky Mountain Institute and London University's UCL Energy Instituteā€¦

17 Jun 2019

Banks Impose Emissions Rule in Ship-Finance

Eleven banks with a combined shipping finance portfolio of $100bn will for the first time integrate climate considerations into lending decisions to incentivize maritime shipping's decarbonization.Named 'the Poseidon Principles', the new rules are a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of financial institutions' shipping portfolios, said joint press release from Rocky Mountain Institute, Global Maritime Forum and UCL Energy Institute.Founding Signatories include Citi, Societe Generale, DNB, ABN Amro, Amsterdam Trade Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, DVB, ING and Nordea, and represent around 20% of the global ship finance portfolio."As banksā€¦

24 Oct 2018

Ship Financiers Toughen Stance on CO2 Emissions

File Image / Adobstock Ā© 14ktgold

Leading shipping finance banks have joined industry players in support of faster action to cut carbon emissions by the sector.In April, the United Nations shipping agency reached an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2008 levels, which fell short of more ambitious targets.The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) is meeting in London this week to work on an initial strategy on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.In the meantimeā€¦

11 Sep 2015

British Maritime Industry Eyes Chinaā€™s One Belt, One Road Plan

Chinaā€™s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and Economic Belt development vision has takers in UK maritime sector, reports Xinhua News Agency. Both countries expected to improve bilateral maritime cooperation in the "Belt and Road" initiative, chairman of Maritime London Lord Mountevans said. ā€˜All maritime roads lead to Londonā€™ stated moderator Doug Barrow, chief executive of promotional body Maritime London, organiser of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) event. CMA CGM, the third biggest container operator globally, signed a strategic "Belt and Road" project with China Merchants Holdings, investment arm of China Merchants (CM) Group, to investigate and evaluate together investment opportunities.

20 Nov 2000

Banking Sector Feels The Effects Of Consolidation

The number of major banks involved in the shipping industry has decreased substantially over the last few years. According to Michael Parker, managing director of Citibank, this is just one of many sectors hit by the ongoing consolidation trend in the shipping arena. "Banks can not live on interest margin alone without a substantial rise in spreads. They are having to look for other revenues/fees," said Parker, speaking at the LSE Shipping Finance Conference in London on November 14-15, 2000. Mergers in the banking sector such as Chase and JP Morgan, and Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, are illustrative of the fever of consolidation that has also spread into the bulk, P&I, classification, ports and e-commerce sectors.