Green Shipping Industry Day - Key Takeaways

The Green Shipping Industry Day 2025 brought together in Brussels institutional, industrial, port, academic, and NGO stakeholders for a full day dedicated to the challenges and solutions of the maritime environmental transition.
Held under the banner of European and international cooperation, the event addressed key themes such as innovation, biodiversity, sustainable ports, and competitiveness.

Innovation and investment: setting the course for change

Christophe Clergeau, Member of the European Parliament and President of the SEArica Intergroup, emphasized the need to consider ports as industrial and innovation hubs, beyond mere container traffic. He called for massive infrastructure investments and strong support for wind-assisted propulsion, stating:

“The best fuels are the ones we don’t need.”

Antidia Citores (Green Marine Europe) introduced the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) and highlighted the unprecedented collaboration between European projects such as EcoShipyard and CirclesOfLife, which provide tangible tools:

• Digital platforms and environmental performance indicators for shipyards;
• Material passports to trace, reuse, and recover ship components throughout their life cycle.

Key message: Greening shipbuilding is not a brake on competitiveness — it is the condition for its long-term survival.

Biodiversity: underwater noise and slow steaming at the heart of the debate

Moderated by Antidia Citores, the biodiversity roundtable shed light on the impacts of underwater noise and ship strikes.

• Marie-Lucie Susini (Belgian Federal Public Service for Mobility and Transport) recalled the progress made by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which has evolved from simple guidelines (2014) to a concrete action plan (2023).
• Dr. Megan Clampitt (Ponant) presented the company’s onboard scientific program, offering berths to researchers and operating vessels certified for noise reduction.
• Samia Hached (Louis Dreyfus Armateurs) shared her company’s long-standing commitment to slow steaming.
• Aurore Morin (IFAW) promoted the “Blue Speeds” campaign: sailing at 75% of design speed could reduce collisions by 50%, underwater noise by 40%, and GHG emissions by 13%, while generating up to €4.5 billion in economic benefits across Europe.
• Simone Panigada (Téthys Research Institute) and Marie-Aude Sévin (BlueSeeds), representing the Pelagos Sanctuary Consortium supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, presented the Sanctuary as a real-world laboratory for turning voluntary measures into binding international standards.

Voluntary measures remain useful, but binding regulation is now essential to protect marine biodiversity.

Sustainable ports: from regional cooperation to European projects

With Green Marine Europe set to open its port certification program in 2026, the session on ports proved particularly rich.

• Mathieu Bergé and Mélanie Pressans, representing Aquitania Ports Link (ports of La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Rochefort Tonnay-Charente), showcased their collaborations in circularity, renewable energy, and innovation (hydrogen cranes, solar loops, biofuels for dredgers).
• Caya Hein (AIVP) emphasized the importance of port resilience and city-port cooperation in the face of extreme weather events.
• Timothy Durant presented the PIONEERS project (ports of Antwerp-Bruges, Barcelona, Constanța, Venlo), developing 19 technological demonstrators ranging from freight electrification to modal shifts to rail and inland waterways.
• Roland Teixeira (EOPSA) stressed that shore power is an immediately available solution but still hindered by financing challenges.

Ports are at the heart of the energy transition and can be innovation catalysts, provided viable business models and adequate political support are secured.

Certification, competitiveness, and transition

The Green Marine Europe certification was central to the afternoon discussions, with testimonials from Brittany Ferries (Christophe Mathieu), MSC Cruises (Captain Minas Myrtidis), and CMA CGM (Pierre-Edouard Altieri).
All confirmed that certification acts as a cultural driver of transformation, strengthening transparency, continuous improvement, and credibility among stakeholders.

Discussions on the new European maritime industrial strategy underlined:

• The need for policy clarity and coordination (Brittany Ferries);
• The urgency of securing access to renewable fuels (MSC Cruises);
• The necessity to bridge the price gap between conventional and alternative fuels (CMA CGM);
• The importance of preserving maritime jobs and skills (Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Ports).

Andrea Lanza, from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), reminded that the Innovation Fund will allocate €40 billion by 2030 to finance vessels, infrastructure, and alternative fuels — while emphasizing the protection of maritime employment.

Florent Carré (European Council for Maritime Applied R&D – ECMAR) stressed the importance of addressing technological challenges (alternative fuels, digitalization, safety, security, etc.) to boost maritime competitiveness.

MEP Ana Vasconcellos concluded that Europe must speak with one voice on these issues, as harmonization is key to a competitive transition.

Closing session: resilience and long-term vision

In closing, David Bolduc (Green Marine International) urged the sector to “stay the course” despite geopolitical and economic turbulence, praising Green Marine and Green Marine Europe for their beyond-compliance, verified approach.
Laurent Martens (Armateurs de France) stressed three pillars to safeguard the financing of the transition: the tonnage tax, the net wage model for European seafarers, and recycling ETS revenues within the maritime ecosystem.
Finally, Captain Alain Mistre (Port of Nice) announced that the next Green Shipping Day will take place in Nice in autumn 2026, alongside a €25 million investment in quay electrification.

Key takeaways of the day

• Innovation & competitiveness go hand in hand: material passports, digital twins, port electrification, Blue Speeds…
• Biodiversity is an emerging priority: underwater noise and ship strikes call for binding measures.
• Ports are transition catalysts: regional cooperation, circularity, resilience — but viable financing models are needed.
• Green Marine Europe certification is both a cultural and strategic driver for the industry.
• Political support and European funding are essential to accelerate the transition.

Picture : Sam Glazier