Q&A: Svitzer’s Kasper Nilaus talks tugs and more

Kasper Nilaus, managing director for Svitzer

The shipping industry is wrestling with a decarbonization challenge that requires all stakeholders to take actions to develop a more sustainable sector. To achieve this, different parts of the industry will need to work together. 

In this Marine Log web exclusive interview, Kasper Nilaus, managing director for Maersk group towage operator Svitzer, tells us about how the port community can build partnerships to achieve a more sustainable port environment. He also outlines some of the actions Svitzer is taking in its fleet and operating practices to deliver decarbonization and a cleaner environment. 

Marine Log (ML): Can you tell us a bit about your career background, how you came to be involved with the maritime industry and why a sustainable sector is important to you?

Kasper Nilaus (KN): In fact, I have had a somewhat unusual way into the maritime industry. My background is in legal, and I have worked as a lawyer for several years, among other advising customers on corporate law and M&A, before I joined Svitzer as Head of Business Development in 2007. I have been part of Svitzer’s management team since 2012 and have held the positions as Head of Commercial and managing director for Svitzer Europe before becoming CEO in 2020.

Being part of a business that strives for a sustainable future and even has it as an ambition to impact its industry more broadly is of essence to me personally. I believe we owe it to future generations to leave the planet in the best condition possible, and as a leading business within our industry we carry a responsibility for that.

ML: Svitzer has talked about its TRAnsverse tugs designed with Robert Allan Ltd in recent years. Can you tell us more about these and whether the next ones will be methanol-powered? 

KN: Svitzer’s work with Robert Allan Ltd aimed to design the next generation of multi-purpose tugs and resulted in the development of the TRAnsverse tug design. We are launching our first operational tug in Europe early next year and are building tugs for service in Australia and Europe right now that will launch over the next two years.

The compact tug is designed around two important ideas that will improve sustainability. Firstly, its design makes it more efficient and increases its job availability. The new design’s influence on operating behaviour is expected to lower fuel consumption and emissions by up to 15%, compared to other tugs.

Higher steering forces than conventional tugs, will make tug jobs quicker and safer and increase the availability of our TRAnsverse tugs during weather windows. The omnidirectional hull form and propulsion offer a high degree of maneuverability, which mean the tugs can operate in a range of complex harbor and terminal towage environments.

Svitzer’s asset strategy focuses on maximizing the life of all our assets and designing ‘retrofit ready’ options to support conversion to future fuels. This includes our TRAnsverse designs and is why we are working with OEM suppliers to develop retrofit kits for our existing fleet to enable conventional tugs to run on methanol. The next major TRAnsverse project is to design and build a methanol fueled Hybrid Fuel Cell (MHFC) powered tug. The development of this vessel will establish the design concept for methanol fueled TRAnsverse (MHFC) tugs going forward. The MHFC, running on green methanol will prevent approximately 1,400 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, compared with a conventionally powered tug.

ML: In terms of sustainability and carbon emissions reduction, where is Svitzer now and where does it see itself heading in the future? 

KN: Svitzer occupies a unique position in the shipping industry, bridging between shore and ocean operations. From our perspective, it is clear that emissions reductions within the industry can only be achieved through a partnership approach between multiple stakeholders across the sector – stakeholders that identify the challenges ahead and wish to find joint solutions to tackle the environmental impacts of port operations.

It is deeply embedded in our strategy to focus on how we can drive down our emissions footprint, through behavioral, equipment and fuel changes. We’re making good progress and are on target to hit our goal for this year through our commitments to using drop in biofuels. On the behavioral side ‘Aim for 8’ is a key internal initiative, whereby Masters are encouraged to maintain a vessel speed of 8 knots whilst mobilizing and demobilizing to a job. These two focus areas alone have allowed us to cut our GHG emissions by more than 50,000 tonnes of CO2e or about 18% of MGO emissions since our strategy launch in 2021.

Our commitment to the decarbonization agenda has only strengthened in recent years; we want to be part of driving green transition at the port level and act as catalysts for change more broadly. This is reflected in our ‘Green Port Partnerships’ focus in our strategy, where we are committed to supporting the IMO ambitions for the industry to achieve the Paris Agreement goals as close as possible to 2050.

To meet the milestones and checkpoints set out in the IMO 2023 GHG Strategy, we need to build partnerships with port operators, fuel suppliers, cargo owners and technology providers to encourage technology adoption, and drive emissions reduction and improvements in carbon intensity. One example of such a partnership could be our role as an anchor partner in low- and zero-carbon fuel supply chains. As a global player with strong local anchoring, Svitzer can help to support the scale up of port initiatives, especially in second tier locations, to move the decarbonization agenda beyond the large ports that have the capacity to pursue green initiatives themselves.

ML: Why is EcoTow important for Svitzer and its sustainability and decarbonization plans? 

KN: EcoTow provides immediate carbon insetting solutions to our customers to help them decarbonize harbor towage operations. In the U.K., we have converted 60 vessels to operate on hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) sourced only from second generation feedstocks. Elsewhere, we are looking to replace our use of marine gas oil (MGO) with low-carbon biofuels to give us the flexibility to offer the service across our fleet and build resilience into our fleet as the biofuel market develops.

The use of secondary feedstocks for the biofuels we use is a keystone requirement for Ecotow and our decarbonization strategy. We cannot risk that the use of biofuels drive land use change toward oil crops rather than food crops. Consequently, we insist that all fuels carry certification and assurance, in line with the Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterial (RSB) standards, or ISCC.

Our EcoTow product allows our UK customers to directly decarbonize their towage operations and benefit from the CO2 savings in their own emissions reporting. However, the product also allows customers in ports where our HVO-powered vessels are not available, to benefit, by matching their emissions with an equivalent delivery of low-carbon HVO fuel in another port.

It is clear that biofuels supply chains operate most efficiently at a local level. As such, our strategy is to base our decisions on fuel use – HVO, FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) and green methanol – with local and regional fuel availability. This allows us to maximize the CO2 reduction across both combustion emissions and production and transport impacts of the fuels we use. We will continue to utilize biofuels like HVO and FAME in our fleet to support hitting both our own goals and those of our customers to reduce their Scope 3 emissions.

ML: What’s next for Svitzer? Anything big you can tell us?

KN: The maritime sector is undergoing a major transformation towards a more sustainable future. As part of this transformation, we need to change too. In the long term, we want to shift Svitzer from being a traditional towage company, to a company providing green marine services that helps ports and marine actors to decarbonize their operations.

Our core business remains in the provision of sustainable marine services, however, as we continue through our transformation and development, we see the amount of information we collect in our operations increase and recognize the value of data and digital solutions as tools for decarbonization. Our global presence provides a unique opportunity to source data and deliver solutions for our customers at scale.

As mentioned, a partnership approach will be crucial to meeting maritime sustainability goals. With our significant role in port operations, we see building partnerships in this area as vital to meeting the decarbonization challenge. Across the globe, ports face the dual challenge of digitalization and decarbonization. Many ports are of a size and nature that means working with external partners to develop new, innovative solutions is the most viable option. Svitzer wants to work with these ports to explore how to solve some of the most complex challenges to decarbonization.