JR Shipping has contracted Value Maritime to retrofit another six vessels with its Filtree exhaust cleaning and carbon capture system, making almost the entire JR fleet sustainable for the future.
JR Shipping’s 750 TEU container feeders Endeavor and Energy have already been equipped with the filter and carbon capture system. JR Shipping has now signed for an additional six vessels, Enforcer, Endurance, Ensemble, Emotion, Empire, and Elysee to be retrofitted, thereby continuing the fleet-wide programme. This makes JR Shipping Value Maritime’s largest client with the carrier set to install the most VM Filtree systems to date.
Over the past three years, JR Shipping and Value Maritime have been consistently working on reducing carbon emissions, lowering the fleet’s environmental footprint and staying ahead of IMO targets. Both companies are building momentum and combining their knowledge and resources to take significant steps in the emission reduction and decarbonisation of short sea shipping.
Sander Schakelaar, Managing Owner, JR Shipping Group, said: “The necessary course towards a sustainable future has the full attention of the shipping industry worldwide. The transition to sustainable shipping can only be accelerated if we turn the Green Deal into a profitable deal. Together with Value Maritime, we mapped out the possibilities for a fleet-wide programme. We worked on the basis that shipowners can only invest to a limited extent in new installations so our main goal was generating sustainability with return prospects in the long run. We are convinced that the innovative Filtree System, developed in-house by Value Maritime engineers, can play an important role in the energy transition of our industry.”
The six vessels will be fitted with the VM Filtree system, Carbon Capture Module and CO2 Battery to capture and store CO2 on board. The system, suitable for both existing and new vessels, is based on technology that filters sulphur and ultra-fine particles from the exhaust gases and purifies wash water. In addition, a patented CO2 capture and storage module is integrated into the system. CO2 batteries will be offloaded and discharged at greenhouses in Europe where the CO2 will be re-used for fertiliser. Value Maritime has set up a service network to replace the batteries in main ports.
Maarten Lodewijks, VM Co-Founder and Director, said: “From the beginning, JR Shipping has embraced the concept of making their fleet more sustainable with a green and financial dividend. We have always been aligned in our thinking and that’s why our combined goals were always going to realised. There was never any doubt. We are very grateful for their loyalty and unwavering trust in our emission-reducing technology.”
VM lists the following advantages of its technology for the container feeder market:
- Full compliance with sulphur emission regulations while still operating on cost-efficient fuel gives a competitive advantage.
- In addition to sulphur, particulate matter is filtered from the exhaust gases, which provides an additional environmental benefit.
- CO₂ is stored and re-used with the capture and storage module, which reduces the vessel’s ecological footprint.
- Installation can be carried out in a matter of days during routine dockings, with virtually no down-time.
The JR Shipping Group and Value Maritime will continue to cooperate to capitalise opportunities to contribute to lower pollution in shipping.
