It was a full house when decarbonization and energy efficiency took center stage at the “Energy Efficiency & Technologies Forum 2025”, hosted by DNV in Athens.

The exclusive industry gathering brought together industry leaders and DNV experts for a deep dive into the latest developments in decarbonization, sustainability and improving energy efficiency, topics that are playing a large role in shaping the future of the shipping industry.

The forum kicked off with presentations from Jason Stefanatos, Global Decarbonization Director, DNV Maritime, and Lefteris Koukoulopoulos, Regional Decarbonization Specialist, DNV Maritime, who outlined the current state of play in decarbonization, both globally and in Greece, highlighting the crucial role of energy efficiency as a first step towards meeting shipping’s regulatory and commercial targets. Industry perspectives further enriched the discussion, through contributions from George Kriezis, Technical Director at Neptune Lines, and Vasilis Tsarsitalidis, Head of Energy Saving Technologies at ERMA FIRST, who offered their thoughts as shipowners and technology providers on maritime industry’s path ahead.

Jason Stefanatos, Global Decarbonization Director, DNV Maritime: “Interest in decarbonization has been steadily growing over the past years, and today the entire industry is actively working to reduce emissions. While the transition to alternative fuels is underway, it’s essential that we explore and leverage all available technologies. Energy efficiency is already delivering short-term emission reductions and serves as a great enabler for future fuels. Piraeus, as the world’s largest shipowner hub, reflects this momentum - evident in the strong attendance at the forum, which highlights the keen interest Greek shipowners have in energy efficiency and technological innovation.”

Lefteris Koukoulopoulos, Regional Decarbonization Specialist, DNV Maritime added: “At DNV Energy Efficiency & Technologies Forum, with discussions ranging from biofuels and wind assisted propulsion, to machinery upgrades, it became clear that the industry has established a strong foundation of knowledge on energy efficiency, with many solutions already tested in practice. What has changed is the growing importance of verified energy savings to enable the proper evaluation before wider adoption in shipping. The challenge now lies in ensuring that proven solutions deliver real impact across the global fleet.”

In the second part of the forum, DNV specialists and academic partners examined some of the key energy efficiency solutions and strategies, including wind-assisted propulsion, verification of energy savings, biofuels in shipping, machinery measures, and fleet-level approaches. The speakers included: Johanna Tranell, Engineer, Hydrodynamics & Stability, DNV Maritime, Hans Anton Tvete, Business Development Manager, Energy Efficiency, DNV Maritime, Øyvind Sekkesæter, Senior Consultant, Environment Advisory, DNV Maritime, Prof. George Dimopoulos, Associate Professor at NTUA and DNV Maritime Advisor, and George Psaraftis, Senior Consultant Engineer, Maritime Advisory Greece, DNV Maritime.

Source:DNV