HEMEXPO sustainability spotlight: ERMA FIRST
HEMEXPO - Hellenic Marine Equipment Manufacturers & Exporters
World class maritime equipment and services from the world's leading shipping nation
As part of the HEMEXPO sustainability spotlight series for association members, we speak to Nikos Drimalas , Sales Director, ERMA FIRST about how the company is supporting the shipping industry’s green transition.
Please can you share what your company is doing to support shipping’s green transition?
Building on its vast experience as a ballast water treatment systems manufacturer, ERMA FIRST has increasingly turned its attention to supporting maritime decarbonisation efforts by helping ship owners to reduce emissions in line with evolving regulations.
This strategy has seen the group launch several advanced solutions targeting enhanced efficiency and sustainability in various areas of ship operations. In recent years, ERMA FIRST has developed an array of solutions designed to support the decarbonisation of shipping, including:
How do these solutions help to improve a ship’s sustainability credentials???
BLUE CONNECT is a Bureau Veritas-approved AMP solution that covers a vessel’s energy demands at berth, enabling it to shut down its auxiliary engines to cut emissions, vibrations, and noise. The solution is recognised as an energy-saving device by DNV.
FLEXCAP builds on the proven capabilities of boss-cap fins to optimise ship efficiency and sustainability. By enabling fins to catch and absorb rotating water force, it weakens the propeller hub vortex, reduces torque, and allows more energy to be channelled back into the propulsion drive train as thrust.
CARBON FIT, ERMA FIRST’s latest innovation, is being developed in two versions.
The larger system is aimed at deep-sea ships and uses established technology to absorb CO2 from flue gas and store it in a liquid state, thus reducing volume, which is crucial for longer voyages. The solution has received approval in principle from both Lloyd’s Register and DNV.
Designed for shortsea vessels, the simpler version uses calcium hydroxide as an inorganic alkali agent to capture CO2 from flue gas in a specially designed reactor, with the resultant calcium carbonate slurry then dehydrated and stored on board until its disposal at authorised facilities.
Please outline the energy savings that can be achieved when this solution is installed.
BLUE CONNECT completely eliminates a vessel’s emissions during port stays and enables true net-zero emissions if the electricity on shore is generated from renewable energy; FLEXCAP can reduce vessel emissions by up to five per cent; and CARBON FIT is expected to cut a ship’s emissions by 15% to 30%.
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Are you involved in any partnerships or research projects that are focused on decarbonization?
In February 2024, ERMA FIRST joined the EU Mission Charter ‘Restore Our Ocean and Waters by 2030’. The Mission aims to “protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters through research and innovation, citizen engagement and blue investments”. As a signatory to the Mission Charter, ERMA FIRST will attend the Mission’s fora and events while pledging actions that contribute to its objectives.
In 2023, the group collaborated with HELMEPA (Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association) on events in May and November, organising volunteers to remove waste and debris from beaches in Piraeus. Both projects aligned with EU ‘Mission Ocean and Waters Actions’ definitions, with the second event also notable for involving the IADYS ‘Jellyfishbot’. In an earlier initiative, ERMA FIRST brought the community together to clean up Votsalakia beach in 2021.
In organising and leading these events, ERMA FIRST directly contributed to objectives 1 and 2 of the Mission Charter: to “protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity” and to “prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas and waters”. Furthermore, by involving the local community, the company used one of two Mission ‘enablers’ – “public mobilisation and engagement”.
Has your company taken steps to ‘green’ its own supply chain?
ERMA FIRST is wholly committed to greening its supply chain in line with its status as a leading provider of maritime sustainability solutions.
The group has already significantly enhanced the sustainability of its internal operations, fitting LED lights and implementing energy-saving, waste-management, and recycling measures among other green initiatives.
In addition, ERMA FIRST recently launched a mobile app that supports digital business cards and brochures – part of wider efforts that have resulted in the near-elimination of paper use and printing at group headquarters.
Finally, the company has installed an electricity grid for charging company cars and is now providing only hybrid-electric vehicles for all new carpool orders.
Visit the ERMA FIRST website to learn more.