It was exciting to have the spotlight shining again on the city of eThekwini, Kwa-Zulu Natal as well as South Africa as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) celebrated the World Maritime Day Parallel event. We are grateful to indeed be blessed as a coastal province and that we have this wonderful resource that we have been endowered with. For the South African Maritime Stakeholders, this day was an important one as it presented a platform to engage with international maritime delegates to further enhance our offering as a maritime nation
The theme for this year’s World Maritime Day Parallel Event, “New technologies for greener shipping” called for the global family of nations to act on the decarbonisation of shipping and ports using zero or low-carbon technologies, fuels, and infrastructure. The goal is to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the globe for sustainable development.
The IMO World Maritime Parallel event 2022 was hosted between 12-14 October 2022 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, proudly brought to you by the National Department of Transport, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), hosted by the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in the City of Durban.
Addressing the World Maritime Day Parallel Event in Durban, IMO Secretary-General said, “We must continue the voyage together towards preserving the environment by accelerating decarbonization of the maritime sector. Shipping is indispensable to global trade and sustainable development. Here in Durban, the busiest port in South Africa, the evidence of that is clear. ”
In re-affirming our place among the maritime nations of the world, we are resolute in our efforts to grow a seafaring nation where young men and women can take advantage of our vast maritime resources for their livelihoods and careers
Minister of Transport Hon. Fikile Mbalula in his keynote address said “There has been substantial work that has been undertaken on this critical matter at international, regional, and national levels. Allow me to take this opportunity to commend the IMO for its exceptional work and commitment to taking action to combat climate change and its threats by adopting the Initial Strategy on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emission from International Ships.”
The minister emphasised his “appreciation and applaud stakeholders, including the oil and bunker industry, manufacturers, academia, and shipping industry in general, for all your efforts and initiatives aimed at using research and innovation for the development of greener technologies as the pathway to the decarbonisation of this important industry.”
He said: “We believe that the abundance of renewable energy potential can accelerate the development of greener technologies and alternative fuels in order to meet the demand of supplying bunker to ships at our ports,” pointing out the opportunity for nations to participate in the transition to cleaner fuels.
The events several high-level panel discussions focused on IMO’s 2022 theme: “New Technologies for Greener Shipping”. As one of the most important maritime events on a global scale, the WMDPE became a definitive stage for the international community to make concrete contributions and progress on collaboration geared at innovative solutions to address mitigation strategies to reduce the maritime transport carbon footprint. A separate high-level roundtable discussion, at the ministerial level also took place, highlighting the above theme as well as other important issues, whose deliberations were used as a platform to embrace new solutions and ideas within the world’s maritime community.