Nor-Shipping 2023 extends far beyond its expansive 20,000 m2 exhibition space, which brings together the industry’s foremost players. It represents a one-of-a-kind platform that grants exclusive access to the latest developments and perspectives from industry leaders such as Tone Lunde Bakker, Maria Bos, Pia Meling, Gitte Gard Talmo and Elise Johansen.
As they each prepare to deliver speeches at this year’s event, igniting discussions about the vital measures required for success in the age of the green shift, they took a moment to share what they are looking forward to and reveal what drives their commitment to this annual conference.
Read on to gain insights into the ever-evolving maritime landscape.
Tone Lunde Bakker
– What key highlights do you want to emphasise in your contribution this year?
Financing the green shift is challenging. Projects are expensive, involve high technological risk, and revenues are far in the future. Close collaboration between companies, banks, investors and the government is essential for success. Eksfin comes to Nor-Shipping with our most comprehensive financing offer ever – and hopes to finance many new green maritime projects.
– What do you get from participating in Nor-Shipping?
The conference is always inspiring and allows for knowledge enhancement, network building and important meetings with customers and partners.
Maria Bos
– What key highlights do you want to emphasise in your contribution this year?
I’ll be discussing how Plug has used partnerships to build several shore power plants in ports faster and more cost-effectively, putting in place the infrastructure needed to solve critical climate challenges in the maritime sector. Our company started following cooperation between Bergen Port and Eviny on the new shore power plant in Bergen, Norway, where we wanted to utilise the experiences of a large and complex process – so that others don’t have to start from scratch. We now have a joint venture company with other players in several ports, including Montrose in Scotland, where we are establishing the UK’s first shore power plant for offshore vessels, which we will also be involved in operating and developing further. I’m also excited about my participation in the Blue Talk 11 discussion with several other panellists who provide essential solutions for a greener industry.
– What do you get from participating in Nor-Shipping?
I hope we can lay the foundation for several new partnerships and update ourselves on what’s happening in the industry – preferably in areas we don’t work with daily. In that sense, Nor-Shipping is an important meeting place that unites good forces. We have all the prerequisites here in Norway to establish a prominent role in the future of green solutions for the maritime sector. We need such opportunities to discover each other.
Pia Meling
– What key highlights do you want to emphasise in your contribution this year?
I’m participating in the Blue Talk panel discussion, where we will discuss why it can be expensive to overlook the entire life cycle of ships in our efforts to cut shipping emissions. There is a significant focus on finding new, carbon-free fuels and on the energy-efficient operation of vessels. To make wise choices, we must consider the total environmental footprint of building ships, operating and maintaining them, and upgrading them with new technology or alternative fuels. We must consider extending the lifespan of various ship parts through reuse and recycling. Several well-known concepts in the consumer market will also shape the maritime industry in the future, such as environmentally friendly production and circularity.
– What do you get from participating in Nor-Shipping?
Nor-Shipping is a perfect arena for learning, discussing, finding new partnerships and meeting fascinating people and decision-makers from around the world. It’s a social week where existing contacts can be maintained, and many new connections can be made.
Gitte Gard Talmo
– What key highlights do you want to emphasise in your contribution this year?
Eidesvik is known as a pioneer in testing and demonstrating solutions that reduce emissions from maritime operations. We aim to reduce our emissions by 50 percent by 2030, a goal we share with many shipping companies in Norway and internationally. For our fleet, it is possible to achieve this goal. But the necessary transformation also depends on factors outside our control. These factors require increased public effort and collaboration across value chains. There is an urgent need to establish infrastructure for new, green fuels and regulations and other measures that create a market for low- and zero-emission vessels – a market that is almost non-existent today.
The financial sector can contribute even more to the green shift in all industries. We must consider actual emission reductions from ships, regardless of whether the market defines it as ‘brown’ or ‘green’.
– What do you get from participating in Nor-Shipping?
Nor-Shipping is where the entire industry meets. We get insights into the latest from the shipping world and opportunities to establish new business connections. We also get a sense of trends in both markets and technological development.
Elise Johansen
– What key highlights do you want to emphasise in your contribution this year?
Sustainability is not a bubble that will burst, but it changes quickly. My main message is that sustainability risks are financial risks. To be attractive in the market today and secure access to capital, the industry must have an active relationship with regulatory requirements and market expectations that affect the financial risk picture within this segment.
– What do you get from participating in Nor-Shipping?
Nor-Shipping is an important place for both exchanging ideas and gathering knowledge. I’m looking forward to meeting new and old acquaintances and learning more about what’s happening in the industry.
