Environment
Yards

Responsea spearheads sustainable maritime

Meyer Turku is only one of the Finnish maritime companies keen on sustainable solutions.

In spring 2018, a new initiative by the name of ResponSea was launched by Finnish Marine Industries. The core group of ten companies has added another ten to the roster within a year – with such industry “heavy hitters” as ABB and Wärtsilä in attendance, in addition to Meyer Turku.

“Each company makes a pledge to improve some area of its sustainability aspect and also reports its progress to the network,” explains Jaana Hänninen.

Meyer Turku has pledged, for example, to reduce its energy consumption by 4 % by 2021 (from the level in 2017) and to develop actions to prevent litter in seas.

Going the distance
Under ResponSea, the Finnish marine industry develops the sustainability of its products and its network together throughout the industry. Already known for its ecological solutions reducing the emissions of marine transportation, Finnish maritime cluster can take the sustainable approach even further, believes Hänninen.

“We have a network of different kind of companies from the industry and we are committed to working together to get things done,” she says, adding that the ResponSea companies are ready to take on big challenges in this regard.

Those challenges include issues such as reducing the environmental impact of shipping and shipbuilding, monitoring the sustainability of the delivery chain and enhancing circular economy and lifecycle efficiency in all actions.

Big picture
Furthermore, the initiative is in line with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals which have been implemented in the Finnish society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development. The Commitment 2050 comprises eight goals (among them e.g. Carbon-neutral society, Resource-wise economy and Sustainable communities).

“The Commitment 2050 gives us the international framework in moving forward,” says Hänninen. n