June 02, 2010
Keeping ship logistics competetive might be easier than you think
Posted by Juha Kytölä
We Finns like to think we’re practical realists instead of no-good daydreamers, but sometimes our realism, that prized quality, can go a touch too far – and then we turn into naysayers, afraid to make the right, bold moves.
A good example of this is the debate on the environmental regulation of sea logistics, which we at Wärtsilä have been following closely.
The International Maritime Organisation http://www.imo.org/ has set goals for reducing sulphur oxides and other emissions significantly by 2015, for very good reasons – to reduce adverse effects on human health, avoid acidification of our seas (including the Baltic!) as well as to curb climate change.
Still, many ship owners and users argue that logistics costs will rise sky-high if the emissions must be curbed. According to them, the environmental regulation should be at least postponed.
“No, that can’t work” – or a fantastic opportunity?
To us at Wärtsilä, that seems a bit like making a simple issue sound complicated and expensive. In the heat of the debate, it seems to have been forgotten that exhaust scrubbing is also an option.
Exhaust scrubbers are affordable and can be installed to existing ships. By washing the exhaust gases with a scrubber, the harmful emissions can be reduced by 99%.
Taking this a step further – why not curb emissions bravely and profile Finnish ship operators and the industry as environmental forerunners? Some paper and car industry players are already proudly talking about using low-emission ships for transporting their products. If we do not act now, we risk losing our competitive advantage to truck and rail transports.
This is our chance to think positively, to tackle the challenges and realize concrete business benefits, too – so let’s do it!
Juha Kytölä
Vice President, Product Centre Ecotech. President of Wärtsilä Finland Oy
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Readers comments
Indeed, I agree with your point. It’s similar situation in many things with Finns… We ahve gotten used to something and then when there arise need for changing something in it, we just start whining about bad decisions and so on.. When instead we Finns would need to look for the solution instead.
Related to this general attitude at many times we Finns then “caught the train” too late. We wait and look what someone else does first and then copy it, if even then, but that way we become the underdog that tries to compete against original invertor.
Also many times when we Finns do figure out something, we then again just stop engineering it further and again competitors overtake us from both sides and fast.
I say “go get em!” febore they get us
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