Before I get started ICE, stands for internal combustion engine. Fossil fuels are diesel, heavy fuel oil, low sulfur heavy fuel oil, lubricating oil (s) you know all the stuff that powers a motor vessel. Currently politicians including the President of the US, is making a big push to do away with those things. Then add in autonomous shipping. If someone has 15 or more yrs before being able to retire but presently works in the Maritime Industry onboard vessels. What do we do NOW to ensure we have the required number of yrs. of employment to earn that all elusive 20yr retirement ? Secondly should mariners make a big push to change the 20yr retirement requirement(s) ? I mean should we all work on ships with zero certainty on the future of our careers ? If rich people are going to change things should’nt rich people also have to carry some of burden to the consequence they give to the mariners that are affected by those changes ? ie A mariner spends a career learning and getting proficient with internal combustion engines but say after 15yrs., everything changes and internal combustion engines are outlawed. Ships are then powered with something else, and the ICE mariners become obsolete and the rich people who made changes to make the ICE mariners obsolete have zero liability to the mariners who ran their ICE ships for 15 yrs and made them millions. When I say zero liability I mean no obligation(s) to provide early retirement(s) systems, re-training in the new systems …etc. Just destroy their careers…Should we allow this ?
Changes are coming, we don’t know how fast, but we do know changes are coming and those changes are NOT to the benefit of Mariners. We the rank and file only have uncertainty to describe our future. Should we fight back to secure our future, fight back to bring professionalism back, or should we just allow bureaucracy to destroy our future ?
Not sure what you want to hear? Vessels will become carbon neutral, whether that is with Ammonia, Hydrogen or Biofuels that will power them, this is the reality. Nothing to fight against, so again what do you really want.
The technology may be out there but it’s unsustainable right now. No amount of government subsidies, or regulations will push out fossil fuels until there is a viable, affordable alternative. I’ve been doing this for 37 years. While the hype for this may be valid or not, and yes, it feels different than some things in the past, shipping cannot absorb the costs of alternative fuels with their current fleet. Ships carry the worlds goods and the world will still need them.
As ships are phased out and new alternative fuel ships replace them there will be opportunities to re-educate and the sailors of today will adapt, just like we did.
Roll with it…
C’mon man!
I’m not going to trust anybody predicting the end of fossil fuels and internal combustion engines. There’s certainly a push to do so but no justification in any science or logic. If the justification is to save the world, start by doing more practical things like reducing corruption and poverty in poor countries. It’s harder than preaching about the supposed evils of that life-giving gas, CO2.
No amount of CO2 reduction will have any effect on the climate sufficient to “save the world”.
Observe the actions of the big players. China burns over half of the world’s coal and in increasing volumes. Is your non-ICE, non fossil fuelled economy going to stop that, reduce the temperature and prosper?
More likely, you will contribute to the decline and fall of western civilisation and ensure the future world hegemony of China.
Fight it now that you can. Plenty of fossil fuels and ICE’s to keep you employed for decades to come.
I’m master of a square rigged sailing ship and we absolutely depend on diesel fuelled engines despite being under sail nearly all of the time. I seem to be the only master/engineer here to understand wind power certainly isn’t the world’s or your answer either.