News

Our Company received the Silver Eco-Efficiency Award of the first ESG Shipping Awards globally (The Initiative – esgshippingawards.com) at Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall on the 30th of May.

According to the organizers, this award demonstrates best practices concerning Air emissions, Circular Economy, Pollution Prevention, Waste, and Water management, Certification, and Assurance Processes, and our Company was recognized for all the initiatives taken and all the actions made towards all these aspects over the last decade.

We wish to congratulate and say a big ‘Thank you’ to All and Each one of our people on board and ashore for all the efforts and support for achieving our goals and initiatives, which are also being well received by the industry and our stakeholders.

The ESG Shipping awards consist of 11 award categories and presented three (3) awards in each category (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), with more than 200 companies nominated.

The first photograph depicts our Chief Sustainability Officer, Mr. Stavros Niotis (middle), HR & ICT Manager, Mr. Tilemahos Poulis (left), and Environmental & Energy Performance Manager, Mr. George Stroumpoulis (right), with the award.

Prime declares that on Thursday, 13 October 2022 became the first shipping company globally that receives a vessel-specific Confirmation of Compliance – SEEMP Part III and the Review letter by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) on behalf of the Marshall Islands Administration.

Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan Part III was prepared in-house for vessel M/T Golden Shiner. The ship’s SEEMP has been developed and complies with IMO Resolution MEPC.346 (78) “2022 GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SHIP ENERGY EFFICIENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN (SEEMP)”, containing Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) calculation methodology, required CII over the next three (3) years, an implementation plan for achieving the required CII and procedures for self-evaluation and improvement.

Confirmation of Compliance (CoC) – SEEMP Part III (GOLDEN SHINER)

Prime’s ship management arms, namely Prime Tanker Management Inc. and Prime Gas Management Inc. (together “Prime Marine”), became the world’s first ship management company to offset the emissions of its head office the previous years.

Prime Marine, which has been providing technical and commercial management services since 1998 and currently to 32 oil and chemical tankers and 4 gas carriers, including the world’s largest fleet of Panamax tankers, has now moved forward with the carbon neutrality of its head office since 2019.

Already the world’s first ship manager with an EN ISO14064-1-certified greenhouse gas emissions monitoring system for its head office since 2016, a member of the Green Angels since 2016, and the Getting-to-Zero Coalition since 2020, Prime Marine aims to continuously improve and reduce, as much as reasonably possible, its impact on climate change and align its management systems with the Paris Agreement trajectory and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and now further reduces its impact by offsetting all its head office’s greenhouse gases emissions annually as determined by GREENiT Environmental and certified by Eurocert.

Going forward, Prime Marine Management is also looking into extending its monitoring practice to all company-related green gases emissions, while investing also in new technologies and solutions that are continuously being developed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its managed fleet.

For more information, see our sustainability webpage: https://www.prime-marine.net/about-us/sustainability

The humanitarian actions of PRIME Marine, during the unprecedented global crisis that the Russian – Ukraine war brought, were rewarded with the SAFETY4SEA Crew Welfare Tanker Operator Award.

The announcement was made on the 21st of June, during the first day of the Crew Welfare Week Virtual Forum, organized by SAFETY4SEA.

Mr. Dimitrios Kampadellis, Crew Manager of PRIME Marine, represented the company and thoroughly presented its actions on such hard times.

Always considering our colleagues on board as the company’s most valuable asset, we supported every crew member and their loved ones since day one. The actions of PRIME Marine are presented in detail below:

https://www.prime-marine.net/post/crew-welfare-tanker-operator-award-announcement-of-shortlist

PRIME Marine Enrolls in Marsoft’s GreenScreen™ Program

PRIME Marine Partners with Marsoft to Access
Gold Standard Carbon Credits

On the 20th of April, PRIME Marine announced its partnership with Marsoft Inc. whereby 8 vessels in the PRIME fleet will be enrolled in the GreenScreen program, and create a Gold Standard carbon reduction project later this year.

Gold Standard, the pre-eminent global carbon registry, last year accepted Marsoft’s GreenScreen-based methodology as the basis for issuing carbon credits for investments that reduce CO2 emissions from ships.
“We are very pleased to be working with PRIME, a leader in the Hellenic product tanker and LPG sector”, said Arlie Sterling, President of Marsoft Inc. “The efforts of the PRIME team on the decarbonization front have been exemplary, and we look forward to working together to issue carbon credits”.

“Marsoft’s GreenScreen will help us measure and verify some of our decarbonization investments”, said Stavros Niotis, Chief Sustainability Officer of PRIME Marine. “Over the past few years we have been proactively working on and investing in proper tools for monitoring our fleet’s performance and emissions as well as researching suitable technologies for achieving our decarbonization goals well beyond the IMO’s GHG Strategy timeline”. He further added: “We have plans for more investments in reducing the environmental footprint of our fleet and Marsoft’s GreenScreen project will assist us in this direction”.

“We are moving quickly to take advantage of Marsoft’s breakthrough, with a fleet of 8 LR1 product tanker ships. Our goal is to enroll in a Gold Standard project this year, in order to make the most of this unique opportunity”, Niotis concluded.

The GreenScreen Program

“Last year” Sterling continues, “the Gold Standard carbon registry recognized the reliability, speed, and cost effectiveness of Marsoft’s proprietary GreenScreen platform. The GreenScreen breakthrough eliminates barriers which until now have made it impractical for shipping to access the carbon credit markets.”

Retrofits reduce CO2 emissions now, and extend the trading life of the existing fleet, thereby delaying the need to make long lived, expensive, and risky newbuilding investment decisions while carbon-free fuels are not yet available. Green Screen and Gold Standard have just made it easier to reduce shipping’s carbon footprint now and in the future.

Marsoft collaborated with the MIT Sea Grant Program Design Lab to create the analytical foundation of its GreenScreen models. According to Dr. Hauke Kite-Powell, Marsoft’s GreenScreen Chief Technical Officer, “The MIT collaboration allowed us to take advantage of the best in naval architecture, tank testing, and software design. The rigorous, science-based foundation of the GreenScreen model was a critical factor in the Gold Standard’s positive assessment of our methodology.” The MIT Sea Grant Design Lab code supports accurate resistance, brake power, and fuel consumption calculations, and is incorporated into Marsoft’s GreenScreen to allow rapid assessment of fuel and emissions savings from a large range of energy saving investments. There are more than 10,000 vessels that can benefit now from retrofits and carbon credits. Evolving regulatory measures and climate policy changes are likely to shift the goal post for shipping and could shorten the window to qualify; owners should act now to ensure recognition of their emission saving investments.

We are glad to inform you that Prime Marine, is one of the 5 shortlisted nominees for the Crew Welfare Tanker Operator Award. It is worth mentioning that it is the only Greek company competing in this category.
The winner will be also elected by the audience vote.
Anyone who wants to support the nomination, can vote online once per PC, mobile phone, and tablet via the following link provided:

Crew Welfare Tanker Operator Award 2022

The procedure is very simple following the below steps:
· Pressing Start
· Scroll Down & cast your vote by clicking the Logo of our Company (a tick appears).
· Pressing Continue

Everyone’s contribution would be very highly appreciated.

Very happy to share that Prime Marine has been shortlisted for the SAFETY4SEA Crew Welfare Tanker Operator Award.

This recognition is to be awarded to any ship operator of oil or chemical tankers, or gas carriers that demonstrated Initiative, Best Practices and Excellence and in any aspect of crew welfare.

Considering that our colleagues on board are the company’s most valuable asset, Prime performed the following:

During the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Prime supported each crew member sailing far away from his country and loved ones. Since day one, the Company assisted all affected seafarers and their families that were forced to flee their homes in search of a refuge from the war.

The company built a designated team assigning office staff employees, including the Crew Manager, to closely work with the Ukrainian crewmembers to assist their families into a safe country across the border of Ukraine.

The assistance provided was the creation of a total support system for the seafarers families, including: coordination for securing safe transportation from the border of Ukraine to neighboring friendly countries, financial assistance, accommodation including food, and personalised care, assistance in the processes and relevant paperwork for travel documentation such as notary paperwork of the father permitting the mother to get child/children out of the country.
At the same time, two assigned employees were placed at the families’ accommodations in order to secure the fulfilment of their needs and the proper habitat and care conditions.

Following all the above, Prime Top Management along with two doctors, one being a pediatrician, flew up to the border to greet and meet all the family members that have gathered so far at their newly formed haven.

Additionally, for more than two years and all the issues arising including the covid-19 pandemic, the company having inherently high levels of empathy and responsibility for the seafarers’ state of mental health and welfare and considering this aspect as of critical importance, is focused on supporting them by various means. Specified psychologists and mental health professionals have been appointed to assist them whenever they wish in their mother language so everyone can express their concerns.
Prime provides medical care service for all seafarers onboard and ashore as part of the welfare package introduced since 2016.

Last but not least, computer-based training has been prepared and uploaded to the company’s training platform for their review and further discussion.

Further to the above, we would like to inform you that the open online voting process will be initialized within next days and the deadline for the open vote by the website is set for Friday the 13th of May 2022.

We are happy to share that the first EEXI Technical File of our LR1 vessel, Golden Shiner, has been approved by DNV.

The EEXI assessment and the preparation of the Technical File were done by our environmental team.

Calculations were optimized using our robust, in-house developed EEXI tool, resulting in minimum possible Engine Power Limitation (EPL) for our vessel.

EEXI Technical File
EEXI Approval Letter

Prime Marine is proudly becoming the first ship management company globally to voluntarily publish its annual Sustainability Report. This report, publicly available to our stakeholders on our website and here highlights our environmental, social and governance performance for the year 2020 and developed with a leading consulting company in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards for marine transportation.
The initiative forms part of Prime Marine strategic action plan to support our shipping industry’s decarbonisation towards the 2050 objectives of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and we look forward to updating you on our next sustainability achievements.

We are happy to share our cooperation with the Non-Profit Organization “we4all” and our contribution to the planting of 400 trees in Greece.

Following the recent wildfires of the previous summer in our country and the loss of thousands of square meters of forests, our efforts are always concentrated to assist in healing the wounds that wildfires caused, minimise our company’s carbon footprint and, in parallel, turn Earth greener.

We remain focused on the mission to increase our environmental and social awareness. Furthermore and in every occasion we remind our employees ashore and onboard that Earth is our home.

This donation is under the umbrella of the “Main Donator” AXIA Ventures Group who took the initiative.

Prime’s ship management arms, namely Prime Tanker Management Inc. and Prime Gas Management Inc. (together “Prime Marine”), become world’s first ship management company to offset the emissions of its head office.

Prime Marine, who has been providing technical and commercial management services since 1998 and currently to 34 oil and chemical tankers and 7 gas carriers, including world’s largest fleet of Panamax tankers, has now moved forward with the carbon-neutrality of its head office since 2019.

Already world’s first ship manager with an EN ISO14064-1-certified greenhouse gas emissions monitoring system for its head office since 2016, a member of the Green Angels since 2016 and Getting-to-Zero Coalition since 2020, Prime Marine aims to continuously improve and reduce, as much as reasonably possible, its impact on climate change and align its management systems with the Paris Agreement trajectory and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and now further reduces its impact by offsetting all its head office’s greenhouse gases emissions annually as determined by GREENiT Environmental and certified by Eurocert.

Going forward, Prime Marine Management is also looking into extending its monitoring practice to all company-related green gases emissions, while investing also in new technologies and solutions that are continuously being developed to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions of its managed fleet.

For more information, see our sustainability webpage: https://www.prime-marine.net/about-us/sustainability.

We are pleased to announce that on the 28th of March of 2020, our Marshall Islands-flagged Endless Summer obtained the E-Zero Designation on her QUALSHIP 21 certification by the United States Coast Guard.

The vessel has met the below eligibility requirements, to obtain the certification:

1. Enrolled in QUALSHIP 21, maintain the certification for the past three years, and remain eligible for re-enrollment.

2. Zero worldwide MARPOL detentions for the vessel in the past three (3) years.

3. Zero environmental deficiencies (MARPOL, 33 CFR Subchapter O, Ballast Water Management, Vessel General Permit, Antifouling) in the U.S. over the past three (3) years.

4. Zero Letters of Warning, Notices of Violation, or Civil Penalties related to Right Whale Mandatory Ship Reporting or speed restriction violations over the past 5 (five) years.

5. Installed CG type-approved Ballast Water Management (BWM) system or operating without a BWM compliance date extension letter granted under 33 CFR 151.2036.

This achievement reflects the company’s perpetual efforts to maintain the highest industry standards in every aspect of the daily vessels’ operations.

Up to now, 31 of the company’s vessels that trade to the United States of America, hold a Qualship 21 certificate.

Click here to view Endless Summer – Approval Letter & Certificate.

The Getting to Zero Coalition is a powerful alliance of more than 130 organizations including companies within the maritime, energy, infrastructure, and finance sectors, and supported by key governments and IGOs.

The Ambition of the Coalition

To have commercially viable Zero-Emission Vessels (ZEVs) operating along deep-sea trade routes by 2030, supported by the necessary infrastructure for scalable net zero-carbon energy sources including production, distribution, storage and bunkering.

Workstreams

Coalition members are invited to take an active part in the development and dissemination of a shared knowledge base covering what is needed in terms of ship technology, fuels, market drivers, and policies to make ZEVs a reality.

1. Fuels, Technologies, and Transition Pathways

Narrowing of technology and fuel options as well as mapping out of safety implications, guidelines, and required regulations for scaling up new fuels.

2. Motivating First Movers

Exploration of policies, demand drivers, and funding mechanisms to motivate and de-risk first-mover investments. To get things moving in the next five years.

3. Closing the Competitiveness Gap

Exploration of policy instruments and market-based measures to close the competitiveness gap between conventional and zero-emission fuels and associated infrastructure to encourage mass uptake.

4. Global Opportunity for Zero Emission Fuels Exports

Charting countries with the potential to produce/export zero-emission fuels.

An enthusiastic and abundant audience of Officers offered their comments, opinions and ideas on all the discussed topics, while Prime’s delegation including the Director of Operations had the opportunity to present the Company’s plans and objectives.

Prime announces that on Monday 02 July 2018 became one of the very first shipping companies globally that receives the Confirmation of Compliance – SEEMP Part II and the Review letter of DCS by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) on behalf of the Marshall Islands Administration.

Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan Part II was prepared for vessel M/T Spottail in collaboration with Alpha Marine Consultants. The ship’s SEEMP has been developed and complies with MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 22 A and IMO Resolution MEPC.282 (70) “2016 Guidelines for the Development of a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP)”, as amended by MEPC.70/18/Add.1/Corr.1.

Prime is very proud to announce that 23 vessels of Prime Tanker Management Inc. and Prime Gas Management Inc. have been enrolled to United States Coast Guard Qualship 21 Program.

On January 1, 2001, the Coast Guard implemented an initiative to identify high-quality ships, and provide incentives to encourage quality operations. This initiative is called QUALSHIP 21, quality shipping for the 21st century.

By closely examining Port State Control Data from the previous 3 years, the characteristics of a typical “quality” vessel are identified. A quality vessel is associated with a well-run company, is classed with a Flag Administration with a superior Port State Control record & has an outstanding Port State Control history in U.S. waters.

The enrolment in the program is based on specific eligibility requirements regarding vessel detentions in the U.S. within the previous 36 months, marine violations or serious marine casualties & successful U.S. PSC Safety Exam within the previous 12 months.

Thus, less than ten percent of all foreign – flagged ships that operate in the United States meet the eligibility requirements of this program.

This recognition of superior achievement motivates our company to continue striving through commitment to quality and operational integrity.

Prime Gas USCG Qualship 21 Program Confirmation Letter

Prime Tanker USCG Qualship 21 Program Confirmation Letter

We are pleased to announce that Prime Marine has received the 2018 GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator Award at a prestigious awards ceremony which successfully concluded on March the 6th at the Yacht Club of Greece in Athens, the evening ahead of the GREEN4SEA Conference.

Prime Marine received the 2018 GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator Award, sponsored by ABS, for its various initiatives towards GHG emissions reductions, becoming the first shipping company globally that received from ABS the Assessment letter of a Monitoring Plan for Compliance with the EU MRV Regulation, prepared for vessel M/T Emerald Shiner. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: AET Tankers, SCF Group, Teekay and Waterfront Shipping.

Presenting the award Mr. Elias Kariambas, Director Global Ship Systems Center, ABS, on behalf of the sponsor, said “There can be no doubt that environmental issues are at the top of the shipping industry’s agenda as we are challenged to minimize the environmental impact of our global marine activities and to ensure sustainability for future generations. ABS considers its role to be at the center of the marine environmental arena and as the classification society who issued the EU MRV Assessment Compliance letter, ABS is particularly proud to present this award to Prime Marine.”

Accepting the award on behalf of Prime Marine, Mr. Frantzeskos Kontos, Technical Manager – DPA, stated “The close monitoring of the vessels’ performance and the continuous efforts of increasing the operational efficiency led us to install energy saving devices improving propeller efficiency in 16 vessels of our fleet. Also it led us to the advanced painting scheme including silicon and to installation of online performance monitoring and ME diagnostic system onboard our vessels. All these contributed to develop our own MRV data monitoring and evaluating system.”

Prime Marine specializes in shipping oil refined products, including a variety of other liquid products, LPG and Ammonia anywhere in the world in a safe, timely and reliable manner. PRIME’s management team has more than eighty years of combined industry experience having been through a number of cycles. The company’s efforts to sustainability are not limited only to vessel’s performance but also extend to company’s office environmental performance. Being member of Green Angels, Prime became the first shipping company that completes successfully the ISO 14064-1:2012 Verification regarding the GHG emissions (CO2equivalent) related to Office operations.

Prime Marine attracted the most votes by the end of the voting period which held online during a 30-days period. GREEN4SEA Conference & Awards within the scope of awarding environmental excellence and performance above average in any aspect of maritime activity.

Prime is pleased to announce the acquisition of FSL Holdings Pte. Ltd., taking over the control of the Trustee-Manager of First Ship Lease Trust (“FSL”), a Singapore-based business trust which currently owns a diversified fleet of 19 modern and high-spec oceangoing vessels across major shipping sub-sectors. The units of FSL are traded on the Singapore stock exchange (SGX-ST: D8DU).

https://www.firstshipleasetrust.com

We are glad to inform you that Prime Marine ,is one of the 5 shortlisted nominees for the GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator Award. It is worth mentioning that it is the only Greek company competing in this category.

The winner will be elected by audience vote.

Anyone who wants to support the nomination can vote online once per PC, mobile phone and tablet via the following link provided:

GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator Award 2018

The procedure is very simple following the below steps:
· Choosing the relevant category GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator Award
· Pressing Start
· Scroll Down & cast your vote by clicking the Logo of our Company (a tick appears).
· Pressing Continue

Kindly find below our company’s achievements relative to the nomination.

GREEN4SEA Nomination

On 13.12.2017 Prime Marine completed successfully the ISO 14064-1:2012 Verification regarding the GHG emissions (CO2equivalent) related to Office operations.

Prime has engaged Greenit Environmental & Green Angels to measure Company’s organizational carbon footprint in accordance with our company’s policy.

The footprint assessment has been calculated based on company’s air conditioning & refrigeration system performance, purchased electricity, business travels, employees’ commuting & waste management & disposal.

This carbon footprint report covers the whole calendar year of 2016 (01-01-2016 to 31-12-2016) and is based on the relevant company’s data. It enables our company to compare our performance against previous and next years, monitor the organization’s progress in relation to our carbon management strategy, and also plan ahead future carbon emission reductions.

The footprint assessment has been calculated using the Greenit Environmental Software Platform and its associated methodology (based on International standards such as GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1:2012) which has been verified by the independent certification body of EUROCERT – European Inspection & Certification Company. The company received on 21st December the verified Prime Carbon Footprint Report for 2016 along with the relevant ISO Certificate.

Prime Marine has adopted 2016 as its baseline year and is committed to a 1% year to year reduction in total carbon GHG emissions from company’s air conditioning and refrigeration system & from purchased electricity per employee until 2020 (4% reduction in total carbon GHG emissions from the above mentioned company’s operations per employee until 2020).

On Wednesday 14 June 2017 Prime Marine Management Inc. became the first shipping company globally that receives from American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) the Assessment letter of a Monitoring Plan for Compliance with Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of CO2 Emissions from Maritime Transport. The Monitoring Plan is prepared for vessel M/T Emerald Shiner

ABS Press Release: ABS Completes EU MRV Monitoring Plan Assessment

M/T Muskie with IMO No. 9256638, manned with 26 crew members, while sailing with speed of 13.0 knots from Fujairah to Rabigh transiting Bab el-Mandep straits, in laden condition with a cargo of fuel oil, reported armed pirates in a boat chased and fired upon the vessel (position 12.35.03,82 N and 043.25.48, 34 E, date 31 May 2017, time 06:50 UTC).

There was a private armed security team on board, consisting of 4 persons, which presented arms and fired warning shots when the suspicious motor skiff commenced heading towards the vessel.

The Master notified the Company while the non-essential crew retreated in the citadel. The unknown assailants on the motor skiff fired with AK-47 shots and launched 3 rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) targeting the vessel. The security team then fired against the pirates while the vessel executed evasive manoeuvres and as a result the attack was aborted.
A second skiff following at a distance did not intervene and abandoned the scene.

The motor skiff was left behind and the vessel, with all crew (including armed guards) safe, continued her voyage to Rabigh.

Out of the 3 RPGs one blew over the wheelhouse and the other overshot resulting in minor damages to insulation, panelling, lighting and one antenna. Vessel’s communication and Navigation equipment is fully operational.

The vessels in the vicinity, naval forces in the area, the Flag Administration, Maritime Security Centre (MSCHOA) and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) have been notified of this incident.

M/T Muskie with IMO No. 9256638 on the way from Fujairah to Rabigh transiting Bab el-Mandep straits, in laden condition, reported armed pirates in a boat chased and fired upon the vessel underway.

The on board security team was mobilised resulting in the pirates aborting the attack.

All crew are safe and the vessel continues her voyage.

On Tuesday 25/04/2017 “Green Angels”, the Greek Community for Environmental Responsible Business founded by ICAP Group and Greenit Environmental, had their 1st National Debate in cooperation with Hellenic Institute of Production & Operations Management (EIDIP).

Prime Tanker / Gas Management presented some of the adopted energy efficiency measures/practices like the use of new generation A/F Paints, the development of in-house software for vessels’ performance evaluation, a theoretical approach on ship’s efficiency, the installation of Energy Saving Devices (e.g. Becker Mewis Duct), the installation of PYTHIA Engine Monitoring & Diagnostic tool the ISO 14001 & ISO 50001 certification, etc.

Please visit the following link https://goo.gl/w41EHI for relevant press release.