Page 38 - IB April 2023

Green Transport Green Transport

130 Cerulean render rig classic P12 sailing

PROJECT CERULEAN

A VAST OCEAN OF POSSIBILITY TO EXPLORE

By Andrew Irvin is so important for the Pacific’s forthcoming transition to low
carbon shipping.
In 2018, Swire Shipping and the University of the South Undertaken as a broad investigation into the suitability of a
Pacific launched a new project to research and design a purpose-built inter-island cargo vessel, Project Cerulean has
low-carbon wind powered, commercially-operated freighter provided a case study on regional gaps inhibiting the construc-
to stimulate outer-island Pacific trade. Route analysis by the tion/operation of these next generation vessels for outer-is-
Micronesian Centre for Sustainable Transport (MCST) demon- land Pacific deployment. The project is of critical importance
strated a marginal but viable business case if the vessel could to our overall research agenda on transitioning to low carbon
be built within budget. Collaboration with French ship design shipping because it was the first public private partnership
firm, VPLP resulted in this design for a 40-metre ship, initially with a commercial shipping line. Unlike bilateral or aid-based
targeting the copra trade between RMI, Kiribati, Tuvalu and projects, the ship being considered had to meet a commercial
Fiji. Spiralling costs in all aspects of ship construction follow- operating bottom-line for its investors. As demonstrated over
ing the COVID pandemic and subsequent global logistic chain the past four years, the famine-to-feast fluctuation in global
crisis has seen shipyards with overflowing order books. With ship building costs has made this vessel on this route unten-
build quotes nearing double initial estimates, the business able at this time. This is a critical lesson for Pacific private
case is no longer viable, and Swire have made the decision not sector contemplating the technology transition to understand.
to proceed further at this time. Decarbonisation is essentially an economic, not a technology
While the project has not resulted in a new vessel, the question.
research collaboration has provided a much-improved under- Upon evaluating the project’s Cargo & Route Assessment
standing of the challenges facing inter-island transport con- Reports, it became obvious that demand for outer-island ship-
nectivity under the current conditions. Most importantly, the ping significantly outstrips existing supply. The sector cannot
project has provided an immense amount of information and meet current demand without increased frequency of vessel
detailed analysis on deploying Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion operations. Decarbonisation and cost-effective, decentralised,
(WASP) vessels, designed for the specific range of operational equitable transport service access would only be possible
conditions in Pacific Island countries and capable of respond- under a scenario in which newly built vessels were designed
ing to the needs of remote island communities. MCST’s lead and deployed in accordance with the requirements of specific
researcher of the Cerulean Project, Andrew Irvin, discusses routes.
the research findings and why the research platform gained Considering these route requirements and corresponding

38 Islands Business, April 2023