On 11 June 2026, APRE – Agency for the Promotion of European Research and Waterborne Technology Platform, as part of the MarLEN consortium, organized the 2nd Mobilization and Mutual Learning Workshop on Short Sea Shipping.
The workshop was part of a series of six joint events aligned with the Zero Emission Waterborne Transport Partnership (ZEWT) Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and its implementation pathways, covering different ship types and supporting the transition towards zero-emission waterborne transport.
Programme Highlights
Following the first workshop focused on Inland Waterway Transport, this second workshop explored challenges, opportunities, and solutions related to Short Sea Shipping.
After presenting the MarLEN project and the objectives of the Zero Emission Waterborne Transport Partnership (ZEWT), two best practices from the short sea shipping sector presented themselves, sharing their experiences, barriers, and success factors with the audience:
- Anders Öster, General Manager, Research Coordination & Funding, Technology Strategy & Decarbonisation, presented Wärtsilä
- Lasse Vangstein, Chief Communications & Sustainability Officer, presented Havila Kystruten
In the final session, participants engaged in an interactive co-creation moment aimed at exchanging perspectives and analysing challenges, solutions, and opportunities, exploring the policy, economic, technological, and social dimensions of short sea shipping.
Key Takeaways
At Political Level
- Lack of an end-to-end whole-system lifecycle analysis of the benefits and costs of transitioning to full electrification, including power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, battery production and replacement, and overall environmental impact compared with conventional fuel systems
- Need for alignment and coordination of funding (EU & national) – including use of all ETS Maritime funds
At Economic and Financial Level
- Lack of funding tools for end users to proceed with the integration/adoption of EETs towards decarbonization
- Options for “transition support” should be investigated – similar to the early use of renewable energy feed-in tariffs (now CFD auctions) that supported private sector investment in renewable energy projects while maintaining a level playing field in energy markets
At Social Level
- Support for societal acceptance of possible increases in costs for products transported by sea, possibly through social media (valid for all sectors)
At Technological Level
- Alignment of EETs with relevant port infrastructure developments
- EETs implementation is challenging in terms of retrofits and not attractive in terms of cost-benefit balance. Meeting compliance targets seems unrealistic
- “Promotion” of specific EETs under FuelEU hinders the promotion of the entire spectrum of EETs – no direct reflection of the benefits/emissions reduction in terms of compliance
Have you missed the event? No worries, we got you covered! You can re-watch it at the following link!
