Frankfurt / Hamburg, 17th January 2018: The German Maritime LNG Platform and VDMA have agreed a collaborative partnership. By co-operating and mutually supporting each other, the Platform's Managing Director, Tessa Rodewaldt, and the Managing Director of VDMA Engines and Systems, Peter Müller-Baum, envision a range of constructive opportunities to jointly drive forward future innovation in the shipping sector.
The platform has been campaigning for the increased use of the alternative fuel LNG (liquefied natural gas) for the past three years. The Platform's objective is to significantly reduce the emissions generated by the shipping sector, i.e. sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter - to allow for low-emission and sustainable sea and inland shipping and a significant improvement of air quality and therefore quality of life especially in port towns and coastal regions.
Tessa Rodewaldt explains:
"Improving the framework conditions for the maritime use of LNG is at the heart of our work. The German government has actively reached out to the maritime sector with its recently published LNG funding programme. This is an important and necessary step into the right direction. Now we need partners and advocates to constructively drive forward the market launch of LNG. Our partnership with the VDMA and our intensified exchanges with VDMA member companies is therefore more than timely. The collective expertise and experience of the VDMA and its members will help us to further promote the maritime use of LNG."
For the VDMA, LNG is also an important step towards a sustainable shipping industry. Over the past few months, the Association's "Maritime Energy Transition" initiative has demonstrated how the goal of an emissions-free and CO2-neutral future should be achieved in the long-term future.
"LNG is the first step in the maritime energy transition, before the arrival of synthetic (i.e. CO2-neutral) fuels in the more distant future", says Peter Müller-Baum. "More than ever, this needs to be on the political agenda today", he continues, explaining why cooperation is so important now.
In addition to networking activities, the partnership between the VDMA and the German Maritime LNG Platform will include the exchange of information as well as mutual event support.
About the VDMA
VDMA represents more than 3,200 mostly medium-sized companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector. With over one million employees and sales amounting to approximately 215 billion euros (2016), the sector is the largest industrial employer in Germany and one of the leading German industrial sectors. Numerous members from the industries of process technology, large industrial plant construction, maritime supply and, last but not least, large engine manufacturers are technology suppliers for LNG.
For more information about the Maritime Energy Transformation initiative, please visit: mus.vdma.org/mew
About the German Maritime LNG Platform
The German Maritime LNG Platform has worked towards establishing LNG as a marine fuel in sea and inland shipping and as an energy source in ports since 2014, specifically with a view to creating favourable market conditions for the use of LNG in the maritime sector. The Platform has nearly 100 members and partners, among them ports, shipping and technology companies, infrastructure providers, suppliers, classification societies, shipyards and shipping and environmental organisations and associations. It successfully operates as a partner to both political and sector stakeholders, often acting as a broker between them. In particular, it closely co-operates with the Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to develop a strategy for the maritime use of LNG in Germany.
For more information, please visit: www.lng-info.de
Press contacts
VDMA
Peter Müller-Baum
Managing Director of the Engines and Systems Association
Tel.: +49 (0)69 66 03 13 53
Email: mueller-baum(at)vdma(dot)org
German Maritime LNG Platform
Tessa Rodewaldt
Managing Director
Tel.: +49 (0)176 311 28113
Email: rodewaldt(at)lng-info(dot)de