Dr. Sanjay C. Kuttan: linkedin.com/in/drsanjayckuttan-54a7a31
Introduction and Background
Ryan: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, today we aim to delve into your remarkable expertise in the maritime industry and discuss the latest trends, technologies, and insights that can benefit both industry professionals and aspiring individuals.
Dr. Sanjay: Thank you for the opportunity to share and I hope my answers will be interesting to the reader.
Ryan: Your current role at the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation focuses on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime industry. Can you share some of the key initiatives and strategies you are implementing to achieve this goal?
Dr. Sanjay: Established on 1 Aug 2021, GCMD, a non-profit, public-private funded entity, is focused on lowering or removing barriers that thwart the adoption of low/zero carbon solutions by the international maritime sector. We don’t focus on choosing winners and are agnostic to solutions.
There are 3 overarching initiatives that we are currently focused on which underpins a number of projects, for example,
Ammonia as a marine fuel
Drop-in green fuel assurance framework
Unlocking the carbon value chain
In all three, we have planned or are planning to run pilots to demonstrate that ammonia can be transferred between vessels safely. Additionally, we aim to develop an assurance framework from operational experience (5 supply chains involving 14 vessels) across the supply chain of drop-in green fuel e.g., biofuels (FAME, UCOME, HVO) and if all goes well, Crude Algae Oil (CAO) as well. And lastly, to install and operate a Shipboard Carbon Capture system with the successful end-to-end delivery of the captured carbon dioxide in liquid form, from the vessel into a utilization or sequestration pathway on shore.
Dr Sanjay C. Kuttan (center) speaking at the Asia Pacific Maritime exhibition in March 2022 (Photo: Singapore Maritime Foundation)
With these three initiatives, we hope to lower the barrier of adoption of ammonia as a marine fuel, increase the uptake of current and future biofuels e.g., CAO, bio-methanol and bio-LNG, and abate the carbon emissions from the use of fossil based fuels within the current fleet of vessels. This is because there is no option now, or in the near future, but to use fossil fuels, at least until the availability of green fuels, alternative fuel dual fuel engines and shipyards for both new build and retrofits.
Ryan: As an advisor to Motion Ventures and Beep, you're involved in sustainable energy and electric vehicle ecosystems. How do these experiences align with your work in the maritime sector, and what insights can be applied from one sector to the other?
Dr. Sanjay: In both cases the key challenges are system-of-systems related.
There is an infrastructure conundrum in the electric vehicle space i.e., ‘chicken-or-the-egg’ dilemma. Which should we build first is a bottleneck that was finally resolved when the government announced 60 000 EV charging infrastructure and implemented the right policy for transitioning the domestic transport sector to a lower carbon ecosystem.
Whilst shipping has the same issue, it is more challenging as the domestic infrastructure must try to support the international shipping mandate i.e., IMO. However, there is a gap between the change of pace between various parties involved and the ubiquitous nature of shipping, where a fully coordinated transition between domestic and international ecosystems will exacerbate the challenges facing us.
Dr. Sanjay C. Kuttan (right), (Photo: Riviera)
Nevertheless, if we ring-fence the ecosystem into a micro environment, we can transcribe the lessons between these two areas i.e., EV and maritime, thus making the transition happen, albeit one small but significant step at a time.
Research & Innovation
Ryan: During your tenure at the Singapore Maritime Institute, you drove the maritime transformation in Singapore through research and development. What are some of the most significant advancements or projects that emerged during your leadership?
Dr. Sanjay: SMI is focused on driving innovation within the Singapore ecosystem, including collaboration with external researchers e.g., Research Council of Norway, University of Turku, that would have impact on the maritime transformation of Maritime Singapore and the interest of collaborating parties.
The key to that goal was to establish a R&D Roadmap for the maritime transition across all areas of concerns, in the transition from safety to security to digitalisation and decarbonisation. This roadmap that was developed together with industry and MPA, allowed us to envision the future we wanted for Maritime Singapore and established the building blocks required to get there.
This roadmap also contextualised the role of existing centres of excellence that had been established, and the capability/knowledge gaps within the ecosystem. This lead to the establishment of CEAOPS, a Centre of Excellence for autonomous and remotely operated vessels, currently housed within Technology Centre for Offshore Marine Singapore (TCOMS). Their MOU with SINTEF OCEAN and the consequent development of a roadmap for autonomous vessels, led to the the setting up of a Maritime AI Programme with industry partners e.g., Kongsberg Digital, Wartsila, and RightShi, as well as other recommendations from SMI’s International Advisory Panel chaired by Mr Peter Ho in 2020/2021.
“Maritime Transformation: Risks, Challenges and Rewards”, the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) Forum on 9 October 2019, Dr. Sanjay C. Kuttan (seated, left) (Photo: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR))
SMI’s roadmap also provided focus for work to be done by existing centres of excellence e.g., new training facilities that coupled human factor work for seafarers at the Singapore Polytechnic’s Centre for Excellence for Maritime Safety.
The roadmap also guided our decisions to commission a maritime cybersecurity study that was led by the team from iTRUST at SUTD and resulted in the establishment of MariOT at SUTD after it was completed.
Whilst SMI has funded more than 100 R&D projects, translating these project outcomes to real world solutions still requires a few additional steps, but you never climb a mountain by staring at the peak from the base, hoping to do it in one step.
Ryan: You have a substantial background in energy, including your work at ExxonMobil and McKinsey & Company. How can the energy sector's experiences and innovations be leveraged to address the maritime sector's challenges, particularly in decarbonization?
Dr. Sanjay: Energy efficiency, operational efficiency, marine engines, refining economics, hydrocarbon fuels and operational performance improvements are aspects of my work at both at ExxonMobil and McKinsey & Company (McK) that I carry with me. In fact after McK, I joined the Energy Market Authority and thereafter Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the Energy Research Institute at NTU (ERI@N) which pushed me into the world of electrons, EV’s, renewable energy, and software platforms and the Internet of Things (IoT).
It would seem that all my cumulated past experience over 27 years seem to converge in relevance to the work around decarbonisation. I wouldn’t have guessed that in 1994 when I started with ExxonMobil.
There are three main levers to pull in decarbonising the maritime sector i.e., operational efficiency and use of energy efficient technologies/solutions, alternative low/zero carbon fuels and the emerging carbon capture value chain with current fossil fuels. Digitalisation and policy are important enablers for accelerating adoption. Thus my past experience has helped me understand the opportunities they bring, in shifting the decarbonisation needle.
Dr. Sanjay C. Kuttan, CTO, Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (Photo: Trade Finance Global Singapore)
When transitioning, one must understand the past to be able to move towards the future state safely and effectively, whilst appreciating the commercial realities of the burden of existing assets and cost of change.
Ryan: Could you share your perspective on the most promising technologies and innovations for reducing carbon emissions in the maritime industry in the coming years?
Dr. Sanjay: Timelines are important when projecting to the future, and the question is contextualised by the words “coming years” which I interpret as short term and up to 2030.
With that, looking at the low availability of green hydrogen at scale, which is limited by the growth and access to renewable energy, and is critical for the production of green ammonia and green methanol, the following solutions are pertinent to reduce the carbon footprint of shipping i.e., operational efficiency, energy efficient technologies and Generation 2 biofuels i.e., FAME, UCOME and HVO. This we can do today and start “bending the curve”.
Remembering this, there is a cost of not doing anything now and will negatively impact the future of not just our lives but also the sustainability of our business and long term shareholder returns.
It is also worth noting that the Greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of fuels will be evaluated based on the life cycle assessment i.e., well to wake, so supply chains for fuels like LNG need to ensure methane slip and fugitive emissions are curtailed significantly.
Alternative green fuels, in fact all fuels, will also need to consider the GHG foot print of their supply chains, and ensure the distance between production and bunkering is kept to a minimum, to prevent compromising the greenness of the fuel and the investment put in to produce them in the first place.
Beyond this timeline, onboard carbon capture may emerge but the dependencies on port/terminal infrastructure to receive the carbon dioxide, i.e., liquified, carbonates, slurry etc, the ecosystem around the ports to process either via utilisation or sequestration to fix the captured carbon, the availability of carbon dioxide carriers, and the assurance that the sequestered carbon dioxide is safely tucked away for eternity, will be key to establish this carbon value chain.
Dr. Per Christer Lund (left) in an in-depth conversation with Dr. Sanjay Kuttan (right) on ammonia, 7 May 2022 (Photo: Norwegian Business Association in Singapore: NBAS, Sarah Choo Jing)
Furthermore, the need for a coherent harmonised policy of defining the status of the captured carbon dioxide i.e., waste or feedstock, and accounting for the transfer of the molecules from IMO’s jurisdiction to that of within the national boundaries, and the liabilities and responsibilities therein with respect to the sequestration of the molecule in or outside the national boundaries, needs to articulated and ratified.
Leadership & Direction
Ryan: In your role as an Executive Director at the Singapore Maritime Institute, you served on governing boards and committees related to maritime safety, energy, and sustainable development. What lessons did you learn from these roles that can be applied to promote sustainability and safety in the maritime sector on a global scale?
Dr. Sanjay: The role had two important benefits for me i.e., knowledge and networks.
Having a broader perspective of the challenges faced by the maritime sector beyond decarbonisation, allowed me to join “disparate dots” across the ecosystem, and leveraging these networks enhanced my efforts to think of solutions and engage with stakeholders more effectively.
We are all connected in our work but organisational structures create artificial silos that keep us apart from each other as we pursue our specific KPIs.
Safety and Sustainability applies to everyone in the maritime sector from seafarers at sea to the finance department in the office and across the ecosystem or inter-related companies in the maritime sector as a whole. I try to always keep that in mind to enhance the power of collaborative platforms that we are creating at GCMD to solve the decarbonisation challenge.
Ryan: You were an Asia Pacific Technical Response Manager at ExxonMobil. How can a multinational corporation's experience be utilized to shape international maritime industry standards, especially in terms of safety and sustainability?
Dr. Sanjay: MNC’s are like mini-governments where the discipline of adhering to processes, governance structures, standards, and procedures is key when managing tens of thousands of people across the globe operating different assets.
InnovFest 2022 x Elevating Founders – Asia Tech x Singapore, Dr. Sanjay C. Kuttan (left) (Photo: Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services Pte Ltd)
Processes should be rigid for general collective consistency and empowerment but have a governance structure to be able review them in order to react to an ever-changing environment thus providing for nimbleness.
Unlike most decisions in the past, sustainability addresses an existential threat which has never been considered until now. We cannot carry on making decisions based on the same yardstick for investment strategies, where Return-on-investment was a main driver, if we are to achieve a different outcome. We must consider Return-on-Environment, which is equally important, and we need to find a more effective equilibrium between the two to save our world, and if not for ourselves, for our children.
Ryan: Your role at Energy Market Authority (EMA) involved initiatives related to clean energy, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency. How can these initiatives be adapted or scaled to benefit the maritime sector's transition to cleaner energy sources?
Dr. Sanjay: Harmonised standards, business models, capability building, digitalisation, and policies are key enablers that are adaptable across these two domains.
Ryan: As the Chief Technology Officer at the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, you're involved in fostering collaboration across sectors. How do you see collaboration between governments, private industry, and research institutions shaping the future of the maritime industry?
Dr. Sanjay: It is extremely critical and important for these institutions to work together, however as it is just more than institutions, it is also about the people/individuals within these institutions that are the main drivers of collaboration.
The quality of relationships, frequency of interaction, and openness to knowledge sharing to collectively address a specific agreed problem statement is the bedrock of any collaboration.
Thoughts & Advice
Ryan: What advice do you have for maritime professionals looking to embrace sustainable practices and technologies in their careers, considering the current global emphasis on environmental responsibility?
Dr. Sanjay: Be clear of the reason “why” one would “embrace sustainable practices and technologies”. The motivation is paramount to embark on one of the most important journeys of our time because the journey is riddled with frustrations from conflicting and unaligned agendas of influential naysayers and incumbents despite attempting to address an existential threat.
Dr. Sanjay C. Kuttan (second from left), panelist at Keep It Going: the Nth revolutioN session on The Good,
The Bad And The Ugly Of The Future, on 4 October 2018 (Photo: STORM-ASIA)
Don’t be in a rush for high salaries and promotions, spend time to build your personal Trust Index at the organisation you belong to. This Trust index is a function of (reliability + credibility + intimacy) / (self-orientation), where:
reliability simply means do what you say/agreed to do;
credibility means doing it well and competently;
intimacy means doing the work with a high sense of situational awareness of the people and processes you are with; and
the denominator suggests helping others other than for personal gain, raises the index number.
Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, and in our lifetime, these windows open and close and may never come again, so watch out for it. Don’t measure its worth in terms of dollars and cents which is a short term view, but make sense of the value it brings to one’s personal development which will maintain one’s energy and drive each day at work.
Ryan: Given your extensive experience in both the energy and maritime sectors, what is your vision for the future of a sustainable, decarbonized maritime industry, and how do you plan to contribute to its realization?
Dr. Sanjay: My plan is to actively work with others through collective knowledge and passion to problem solve and realizing these solutions in order to see scaled green shipping being a part of the logistics supply chain in my life time.
Ryan: How can the maritime sector effectively leverage your knowledge of alternative energy, electrification, and energy efficiency to accelerate its transition to more sustainable and decarbonized operations?
Dr. Sanjay: Hopefully through GCMD, but I am always available to share my thoughts and help problem-solve if anyone wants to meet up. I listen attentively, as I learn a lot as well when I meet to better understand the problem. If I don’t know what to suggest, I will say I don’t know or I will qualify my answer.
We are all trying to solve the decarbonisation / sustainability jigsaw puzzle and have in our possession common and different pieces. Therefore, by working together through collaborative partnerships we can complete the picture faster.
Maritime Decarbonization: Practical Tools, Case Studies and Decarbonization Enablers (Photo: maritime-decarbonization.org)
You can read this latest book on Maritime Decarbonisation which I am one of the 70 plus co-authors:
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Order the book here https://lnkd.in/eMKRbRsP
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