EU Mulls Green Maritime Transport in Greece

The greener and cheaper LNG could contribute to reducing transport emissions and fuel supply costs in the Aegean Sea, INEA, the European Commission’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency said in a statement.

The study aims to promote LNG for the passenger and shipping transport between the Greek islands. It will bring together a number of key LNG value chain stakeholders with the objective to identify the technical and economic framework for LNG as marine fuel in the South Aegean. Specifically, the group will look into the main supply chain options, required retrofits and infrastructure in ports, ships and shipyards, as well as business plans for each operator. 

The project will provide recommendations to the Greek government in view of supporting the legislative process in this field. The project is to be completed by December 2015.

The economically attractive LNG could help decrease the sulphur content in marine fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%.

European regulation on transport requires the shipping sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2050. One of the ways to reach this goal is to use cleaner fuel such as LNG. The TEN-T program puts forward the obligation to provide publicly accessible LNG refueling facilities in all core European ports by 2030.

This project aims to design an LNG transport, distribution, supply – including bunkering – network and infrastructure for LNG use as marine fuel in the eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Cyprus, Italy), and define the framework for a well-functioning and sustainable market.