Sustainable Shipping

International shipping is currently at a crossroads. The decision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in April 2018 to adopt an Initial Strategy so as to achieve by 2050 a reduction of at least 50% in maritime greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions vis-à-vis 2008 levels epitomizes the last among a series of recent developments as regards sustainable shipping. It also sets the scene on what may happen in the future. Even though many experts and industry circles believe that the IMO decision is in line with the COP21 climate change agreement in Paris in 2015, others disagree, either on the ground that the target is not ambitious enough, or on the ground that no clear pathway to reach the target is currently visible. 

Harilaos N. Psaraftis is Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Department of Management Engineering, Management Science division. He has a diploma from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA, 1974), two M.Sc. degrees (1977) and a Ph.D. (1979) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was Assistant and Associate Professor at MIT from 1979 to 1989 (Department of Ocean Engineering) and Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Maritime Transport (LMT) at NTUA from 1989 to 2013 (School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering). Harilaos' main interests are in transport optimization, and maritime and intermodal transport, with a recent focus on green transport, and maritime transport policy and regulations. He has been Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI in some 50 research projects on various transportation subjects. Among the 24 EU projects he was involved in, he has coordinated 3 multi-partner EU consortia, including project SUPERGREEN on European Green Corridors (2010-2013). His published work includes four books, over 150 refereed articles in journals and conferences, over 130 other publications (including 17 book chapters) and over 180 lectures in various other conferences. His previous book was Green Transportation Logistics: the Quest for Win-Win Solutions (Springer, 2016). He has been on the editorial board of several journals, including Transportation Science (1987 to 2017), the WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs (since 2002), Maritime Economics and Logistics (since 2016) and Networks (since 2016). Since 2006 Harilaos has participated in many meetings of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), both at the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). He has served as chairman of various MEPC correspondence and working groups. He and his group have received various academic and industry awards, including two from Lloyds List. In addition to his academic duties, Harilaos has served as CEO of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) for close to 5.5 years (1996 to 2002). His tenure has been linked with developments that include (a) Pireaus making the list of the top 50 world container ports (No. 41 in 1998) with traffic more than doubling from 575.000 TEU (1996) to 1.160.000 TEU (2001), and (b) the port being transformed from a public law undertaking into a corporation (1999). Harilaos is the 3rd longest serving CEO since OLP's inception in 1930, having served under four Ministers of Shipping in Greece.