A maritime  regulation and compliance expert, Dakuku Peterside, on Monday said decarbonisation and the wider green maritime concept represented not only a regulatory imperative but a significant competitive advantage for the global shipping industry.

Mr Peterside made the declaration as a keynote speaker at a high-level webinar organised by Naturehedge in collaboration with the West Africa Green Economic Development Institute (WAGEDI), Gregory University, SSA Hub, and the Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria (SEPAN).

Mr Peterside, a former director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), addressed a virtual room of ship owners, operators, port authorities, financiers, regulators, and energy partners.

He laid out a compelling vision for an industry at crossroads.

“Green maritime is about environmentally sustainable practices, technologies, and policies that reduce impact on the environment,” Mr Peterside stated during a presentation.

However, he was quick to move beyond mere definitions, emphasising that green maritime was a multidimensional lever that affected cost of operations, access to capital, profitability, and the very license to operate.

With 2026 bringing tighter International Maritime Organisation (IMO) carbon-intensity rules and expanded EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) exposure for shipping, Peterside stressed that the future belonged to organisations that combined decarbonisation, digitalisation, innovation, and operational excellence.

He framed green maritime as a source of measurable operational advantage and resilience, not just environmental branding. The webinar delivered a practical, operations-led roadmap to help stakeholders navigate the new terrain.

The strategies discussed included voyage optimisation, just-in-time port arrivals, the transition to alternative fuels (methanol, ammonia, and LNG), the deployment of digital tools, and safety-aligned training.

According to the meeting, compliance is merely the floor; true competitive advantage comes from embedding sustainability into daily operations, data, and finance.

Magnus Onuoha, the president of the Governing Council of REEEAA and BOT Chairman of SEPAN, said the webinar served as a precursor to a major strategic pan-regional workshop to be held in Accra, Ghana.

Also, adding an international perspective on operational efficiency, Madam Hermione Manuel, the managing director of Damen Shipyards in South Africa, highlighted green maritime as a confluence of competitive advantage, sustainability, and compliance.

She cited hybrid vessel initiatives at her shipyard as a testament to the viability and necessity of this approach.

(NAN)