GREEN SHIP-THE FUTURE CONCEPT OF MARITIME TRANSPORT

At the beginning of the 20th Century, as humanity entered the age of industrialism there was not a soul asking the question what the effects on the environment would be. However, the negative impacts that have gripped the entire planet are now undisputable, although at that time, because the human activity was negligible so was its impact. This paper focuses on how maritime transport acts as a pollution source, and what can be done to reduce the quantities of pollutants, looking both at the existing technologies and at latest research programs. The Green Ship idea refers to ideal ships that are environment friendly. We will detail this looking from two points of view: The first one is the Green Ship being a vessel that uses alternative means of propulsion, where the internal combustion engine is replaced with electrical engines that use sun charged voltaic batteries, or rotary sails, or sails that are raised to high altitudes. The second idea refers to what can be practically done on board ships to reduce pollution. This includes, improving the quality of fuel or lowering its sulphur content, improving the construction process or methods for ship hulls or engines.