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Arne Vatnøy: The idea behind Norwegian Offshore Wind is that we are industry driven

Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster –  to maximize opportunities for the Norwegian OWI
 Marek Grzybowski (5) questions to Arne Vatnøy, Communication Manager,  Norwegian Offshore Wind
An exclusive interview to Baltic Journalist Maritime Club  of the Baltic Sea & Space Cluster  (BSSC)

The dynamic between the small startups, SMEs and the large international companies is core of collaboration in the Norwegian Offshore Wind cluster. The organization has several meeting places where are organized B2Bs between the cluster members, and they are also represented in our working groups for different markets and supply chain issues.

The idea behind Norwegian Offshore Wind is that the Norwegian Offshore Wind is industry driven. All the working groups are led be a representative from Cluster  member companies. With the position that Norway has as pioneers withing the floating offshore wind industry, it is natural that the Norway is the host country of the global flagship event for floating wind.

Marek Grzybowski: The Norwegian government’s target is 30 GW by 2040. Multiconsult’s mapping shows much greater potential for the construction of new offshore wind farms along the entire coast. Norwegian Offshore Wind, together with developers Equinor, Source Galileo, Hafslund and Deep Wind Offshore, commissioned the preparation of the report. Is it possible to build 338 GW of offshore wind energy in Norway?

Arne Vatnøy, Norwegian Offshore Wind: This report shows that there are large areas we need to examine further in the process of finding new areas for offshore wind development. The industry supports the government´s ambitious goal of 30 GW by 2040, and we will contribute constructively with input in the process of finding the best suited areas. We see that there is a large potential, especially within floating offshore wind, and the industry will continue to provide new insight that will bring the development forward.

Marek Grzybowski: The report places particular emphasis on cooperation with other maritime industries. What are the industries? How will industries related to the blue economy work together?

Arne Vatnøy, Norwegian Offshore Wind: In Norway, we have a good dialogue with the fishing organizations, and this is vital to succeed with further offshore wind development. When we are going to find new areas for offshore wind we need insight and knowledge that secure coexistence. We work together with different interest groups in the government´s coexistence group, and we are also facilitating debates, discussions, seminars and meeting places with all the industries related to the blue economy. At this year´s Floating Wind Days, coexistence is of course high on the agenda.

Marek Grzybowski: Norwegian Offshore Wind achieved ARENA Pro Cluster status through Norwegian Innovation Clusters in 2021. Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster members range from small start-ups to international companies. What is the cooperation of these companies in the Cluster? How does the cluster achieve the synergy effect?

Arne Vatnøy, Norwegian Offshore Wind: The dynamic between the small startups, SMEs and the large international companies is core of collaboration in our organization. We have several meeting places where we organize B2Bs between our members, and they are also represented in our working groups for different markets and supply chain issues. All the consortia applying for the Norwegain offshore wind parks are represented in our cluster, and they are working together to influence policy makers and authorities in our Developers Forum.

Marek Grzybowski: There are 17 working groups in the Norwegian Offshore Wind cluster. There is also a steering committee in the cluster. Why was this structure created? What is the role of these Cluster structures in the development of innovation and business?

Arne Vatnøy, Norwegian Offshore Wind: The idea behind Norwegian Offshore Wind is that we are industry driven. All the working groups are led be a representative from our member companies. The steering committee is also put together to represent the diversity in this industry. Their role is to help create the strategy for the cluster and make sure that it is the opinions of the industry that drive our work forward.

Marek Grzybowski: Floating Wind Days 2023 will be held in Haugesund on May 24-25th. What is the mission and main purpose and role of this event? Who will the speakers be?  

Arne Vatnøy, Norwegian Offshore Wind: With the position that Norway has as pioneers withing the floating offshore wind industry, it is natural that we are the host country of the global flagship event for floating wind. We have more than hundred speakers, see the full list and program at www.floatingwinddays.com. This year´s festival is opened by the Prime Minister of Norway.

Marek Grzybowski: Thank you for your answers

 

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War on land, business at sea

By Marek Grzybowski

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, new players appeared on the maritime transport market. The demand for used tankers has increased, which has driven freight rates up after a long period of stagnation, and this has encouraged new players to enter the market dynamically.

Trading in old tankers has become an opportunity to do business and support crude oil trading on new routes. As always, war drives business to those who take advantage of the opportunity. The turmoil in the oil transportation market has meant that sellers and buyers, tanker operators and oil suppliers profit from the war.

The sanctions imposed on trade in Russian oil and petroleum products, which entered into force in December 2022 and February 2023, increased the activity of tanker operators and allowed new players to enter the market. Some of them are pointed out by Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones, who runs the VV blog.

As a result, with the continued demand for oil and the slowdown in supply via pipelines to recipients in Europe, oil streams began to flow through the sea instead of via pipelines. Oil exports from the Arabian Gulf increased by 12.8% y/y to 880.1 million in 2022 and accounted for 42.9% of global oil trade by sea.
Exports from Russia also increased by 10.4% year on year to 218.7 million tonnes and accounted for 10.7% of the global supply of this raw material. The US increased supply and exports increased by 22.9% year-on-year to 165.1 million tonnes, according to Bancosta in its latest report.

“We are looking at new and opportunistic players that have entered the tanker market. We analyze what they bought and what impact this had on the respective market values, especially as the demand for older ships continues to grow,” emphasizes Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones, VV blogger.
“Gatik Ship Management, based in India, is one of the most interesting companies to emerge in the last 18 months,” remarks Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones.

Previously unknown on the maritime transport market, the entity has recently acquired a significant number of ships and as of December 2021 has been operating 53 tankers with a tonnage of over 37,000. up to 318 thousand two tues It has an average age of 17 and a total market value of $1.5 billion.

Fractal Marine Shipping is another new player in the market that has been noticed by Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones of VesselsValue. The shipowner has grown rapidly over the past year. Fractal is based in Geneva and registered in the United Arab Emirates. The operator manages a fleet of tankers. As of March 2020, the company has built a fleet of 27 ships, of which 26 have been purchased since May 2022. Recently purchased ships are between 9 and 14 years old.

Radiating World Shipping Services, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, purchased its first vessel in December 2022 and has since acquired a total of 12 tankers, including 6 Aframaxes and 6 MRs, with an average age of 17 years.

More: VesselsValue Blog, Winword, Revinitiv, Bancosta Research;   War on land, business at sea GospodarkaMorska.p

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Investments on the Silk Road drive (not only) China’s maritime business

By Marek Grzybowski

Chinese companies were involved in 147 countries with an estimated amount of USD 67.8 billion through financial investments and contractual cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2022. This is slightly less than China’s involvement in BRI in 2021, which amounted to USD 68.7 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC.

Approximately USD 32.5 billion was allocated to direct investments, and USD 35.3 billion were construction contracts, which were partly financed by Chinese loans. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s investment exposure in international markets has shown steady growth since 2020.

Cumulative investments under the BRI since the announcement of the BRI in 2013 amounted to USD 962 billion, of which approximately USD 573 in construction contracts and USD 389 in non-financial investments, enumerates Dr. Christoph Nedopil Wang, director and founder of the Green Finance & Development Center, associate professor at Fanhai International School of Finance (FISF) at Fudan University in Shanghai.

China’s average investment deal size increased from around US$444 million in 2020 and US$476 million in 2021 to US$650 million in 2022. This is the highest value since 2019. Compared to the peak in 2014, the investment deal volume is 21% smaller. In the case of construction projects, the transaction volume in 2022 was the lowest since the announcement of the BRI in 2013, as it decreased to USD 321 million compared to USD 530 million in 2021 and USD 386 million in 2020, according to data from the Ministry PRC Trade.

China’s investment involvement in BRI focuses on the energy sector (36% of expenditures) and the manufacturing sector for transport (18%), which, compared to 2021, is an increase in the total value by 60%. This is a continuation of the previously adopted strategy. This was noticeable in 2021.
Chinese involvement related to the energy sector accounted for the bulk of China’s BRI spending. In 2021, the total exposure in the energy sector was approximately USD 22.3 billion. This compares to an exposure of over USD 26.1 billion in 2020 and almost USD 44.8 billion in 2019. In 2021, the majority of investments in the energy-related sector concerned oil processing (31%), followed by use of solar and wind energy (31%) and gas (22%).

Source; Lommes – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58884083

More: Investments on the Silk Road  GospodarkaMorska.pl

 

 

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Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster: The cluster companies total revenues are estimated to 58 bn NOK in 2023

5 questions to Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster.  

An exclusive interview to Baltic Journalist Maritime Club  of the Baltic Sea & Space Cluster  (BSSC)

By: Marek Grzybowski (BSSC)

The Blue Maritime cluster is a National maritime cluster mandated by the Royal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to accelerate innovation within the maritime supply chain.  The cluster companies total revenues are estimated to 58 bn NOK in 2023 against 54 bn in 2022. Our export share is 50% on average divided between yards (NOK 2.5 bn), shipping companies (3.3 bn), services (6.7 bn) and equipment suppliers (11.1 bn).

New Blue Deal, launched in june 2021, where we take aim on becoming the first zero emission maritime cluster in the world. Many initiatives around the world are looking at new green alternative fuels and energy to run the ships of tomorrow. We look at the energy sources. Yes they must be low and zero emission. How do we produce them, harvest them and how do we establish an infrastructure for them? Furthermore we look at the energy consumption in the vessels. Not only engines and generators, but the complete consumption of energy that goes into a ship. Where can we save?

Through our work in R&D and competence elevation, we are determined to develop a complete green newbuilding program, a green refit program and a circular value chain for decommissioning – all based on the New Blue Deal directions.

Marek Grzybowski: Please, describe the fields in which the Cluster operates? In which region of Norway are the companies operating in the cluster concentrated?

Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster:

The Blue Maritime cluster is a National maritime cluster mandated by the Royal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to accelerate innovation within the maritime supply chain. We facilitate R&D projects, pre-studies, competence project and analysis activities in order to provide the participants with market intelligence and knowledge within commerce, technology or methodology. The geografical concentration of this industry is highest in the region between Trondheim and Bergen on the west coast.

Marek Grzybowski: In 2014, due its unique global market position and its important contribution to Norwegian value creation, the cluster was granted the status of a Global Centre of Expertise. What role does Blue Maritime Cluster play in the green transition?

Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster:

I would start with mentioning the even more important cluster strategy, New Blue Deal, launched in june 2021, where we take aim on becoming the first zero emission maritime cluster in the world. Many initiatives around the world are looking at new green alternative fuels and energy to run the ships of tomorrow. To us, the ships of tomorrow must also require far less energy to operate in order to accommodate reduced energy concentration or other scarcities accompanied with alternative energy sources. Looking at both these topics simultaneously, we believe we can arrive at the goal faster. Combining this work with the unique position and skills our cluster has within maritime innovation, we believe we will succeed.

Marek Grzybowski: What does the cluster build its competitive advantage on? What tasks related to raising the level of innovation does the cluster focus on? What technologies, solutions and businesses of the future are being developed. What projects are implemented by the cluster?

Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster:

We base our projects and competence development around the idea of the full supply chain is constantly challenging the established methods and technologies. By being the first with the latest solutions, we can compete against larger and/or cheaper regions of the world. I believe the entire European cluster would benefit from chasing such a position, actually.

As the whole maritime community of companies, research and universities, risk capital, public bodies and entrepreneurs are all represented in the cluster, we are also able to address the challenges, like zero emission. Our strategy on zero emission starts with the ship operations and looking at how they can become more efficient. The least polluting miles are the ones you never sail.
Then we look at the energy sources. Yes they must be low and zero emission. How do we produce them, harvest them and how do we establish an infrastructure for them? Furthermore we look at the energy consumption in the vessels. Not only engines and generators, but the complete consumption of energy that goes into a ship. Where can we save?
Moving on to smart use of energy, we look at how to develop methods and technologies that will let us use the energy over and over again. It can be heat recovery, regeneration on winches and more.

In an extended view, we will not succeed in net zero before we also look at the building and scrapping processes of the vessels. How can we build emission free? What new supply chains must be established? It is all very exciting work, I must admit.

Marek Grzybowski: The Steering Committee operates in the Cluster. What is its mission, what are its tasks, what is its role in creating development directions, projects and business activities? What are the most important directions for the development of the maritime business for the Møre maritime cluster?

Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster:

The Steering Committee is our board that oversees the cluster’s administration and strategic progress. Our development directions are formed on the basis of our strategy where the companies themselves initiate the topics on which to focus on. Our activity is dependent on the companies involving themselves in the projects, spending their time and money on them. So to reach a high level of committment we also need the projects to be relevant to the participants.

Through our work in R&D and competence elevation, we are determined to develop a complete green newbuilding program, a green refit program and a circular value chain for decommissioning – all based on the New Blue Deal directions.

Commercially, the Norwegian market is too small for us, and as export always has been an important part of the cluster’s revenues, developing the export is also an important foundation for our work.

Marek Grzybowski: The high level of the offer of innovative technologies results in a high level of revenues of companies operating in the Cluster in the Møre region. What is the overall revenue for the four main segments in Møre region in 2020-2022? What are the prospects for 2023? What is the share of export revenues? What is the future export potential for the maritime companies in the Møre region? What are Cluster export opportunities and barriers?

Daniel Garden, CEO, Blue Maritime Cluster:

The cluster companies total revenues are estimated to 58 bn NOK in 2023 against 54 bn in 2022. Our export share is 50% on average divided between yards (NOK 2.5 bn), shipping companies (3.3 bn), services (6.7 bn) and equipment suppliers (11.1 bn).

The governent has an ambition for 50% increase of export by 2030. Our cluster will be well prepared to take our share from the segments within ocean based energy, ocean based food and ocean based travel.

Marek Grzybowski: Thank you for your answers

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Gdańsk University of Technology – Kraken supercomputer

By Marek Grzybowski

The STOS Competence Center of the Gdańsk University of Technology and the presentation of the Kraken supercomputer took place in Gdańsk on April 25, 2023.

– Kraken will have a nice computing power of 13.6 PFlops, which according to forecasts will place it in December 2023 in the TOP 100 most powerful supercomputers in the world and at the forefront of supercomputers used in Europe – said Prof. Ph.D., D. Sc., Eng. Krzysztof Wilde, Corresponding member of the PAS.

The Kraken PG supercomputer is located in a special building underground. The computer has seven server rooms and can operate alone or as a team of several supercomputers. Its work will be led by scientists from the Gdańsk University of Technology and the team of the Tri-City Academic Computer Network of GUT.
Buildings for the supercomputer and work for scientists were designed by ARCHDECO from Gdynia
Kraken will allow you to conduct advanced research and complex simulations. Its computing power will enable scientists to conduct advanced work in the field of the development of artificial intelligence algorithms, nuclear energy, environmental protection technologies, as well as medicine and pharmaceuticals.

The total cost of the investment will amount to almost PLN 250 million.

Kraken provides unlimited research and development opportunities and the development of new technologies and solutions that serve society, both now and in the future. The entire research complex has been designed so that its capabilities can be gradually expanded in the coming years – says prof. Henryk Krawczyk, director of CI TASK GUT and originator of the construction of the complex.

– The opening of the STOS GUT center and the launch of the Kraken supercomputer provides huge research potential and will also translate into an influx of a large number of young and talented people to Gdańsk who will stay with us on a permanent basis. This is one of the most modern complexes of this type in Europe, which will significantly increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of not only our university, but also the entire Pomeranian region – said Rector Wilde.