Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2021)

INTERVIEW SHIPBUILDING “What is interest ng are the new trading routes, part cularly the Northern corridor, that is creat ng new opportunit es for the shipowners and shipyards with the demand for new vessel concepts and type.”

Krzysztof Kozdron, Managing

Director, Schulte Marine

Concepts (SMC)

Watch the full interview with Krzysztof

Kozd on MR TV: bit.ly/3u3wSKC day it is a comfortable and ef? cient,” said gies designed to dramatically reduce ship

Schulte Marine Concepts Fast Facts

Kozdron. “COVID has had no adverse ef- emissions. “Maybe not today, but in the fects on the shipbuilding capability and future” new shipbuilding demand will re- • 600 Number of shipbuilding and capacity here in Asia.” turn with a vigor.

repair projects SMC has managed

While traditional business drivers in the since 1973.

newbuild sector – economic interest and Energy Conversion as a Driver • 80/20+/119 SMC has worked in investment opportunity – are still a bit While much focus today in maritime is more then 80 shipyards 119 clients.

fuzzy as COVID lingers, Kozdron sees on alternate fuels and ‘fuels of the future,’ • $500K to $800M The range of proj- emerging drivers that should keep ship- Kozdron sees the fuel transition through a ect size managed, from a ferry boat yards busy. different lens, particularly when it comes ($500k) to an FPSO ($800M).

“What is interesting are the new trad- to ship conversions. “Imagine a place that ing routes, particularly the Northern cor- requires electrical power, but there’s no ridor, that is creating new opportunities for the shipowners power plant in the vicinity: What do you do? You convert a and shipyards with the demand for new vessel concepts and ship into a ? oating power plant.” He said the proliferation of type,” said Kozdron. In addition to new routes, new cargos fuel changes to shore-based power plants – from oil to natural – such as the growth of ethane – are driving innovation and gas for example, are also helping to drive the FSRU conver- investment in new ships and ship technology. “The LNG bun- sion market today.

kering sector (too) is a completely new type of the vessel be- “(Converting a power plant) from fuel oil to natural gas ing driven by environmental consciousness and awareness.” is relatively simple work,” said Kozdron. “What’s more dif-

Looking ahead, he reasons that newbuild demand will have ? cult is to ? nd the gas that you can feed the power pump. So to ramp up substantially, driven by a historically low new- what is happening is that a lot of FSRU conversion projects build orderbook premised on economic uncertainty over the are popping up and they are creating a temporary patch until past 12 months, and the transition to new fuels and technolo- the pipeline to supply the gas is installed.” www.marinelink.com 27

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