Carola Yannouli at ESN Summit 2025: Decarbonization Technologies & Financial Tools in Shortsea Shipping

At the European Shortsea Network Summit 2025 in Athens, organized by the Shortsea Promotion Centre (SPC) Greece, OCEANKING’s General Manager, Carola Yannouli, participated in the session “Financing the Green Transition: Meeting Innovation and Technology Demands”. She shared insights on the green transition in shortsea shipping, highlighting the challenges faced by smaller operators and the practical technical solutions available today. Below is a summary of Carola’s responses to key discussion points:

How do we ensure smaller operators and SMEs are not left behind in the green transition?

Smaller shipowners and SMEs dominate short sea shipping but face major risks in the green transition due to limited financial capacity and difficulty accessing EU funding. Without targeted support, there is a risk of a two-tier market, with decarbonised players and struggling small operators. To avoid this, we should focus on:

• • Tailored financing tools – EU funds like the Innovation Fund and InvestEU should include SME-focused mechanisms with smaller project thresholds and simpler application processes.
  • Fleet-level and pooled solutions – Support collective projects that let small operators share costs and benefits through alliances or green shipping funds.
  • Advisory and technical support – Provide SMEs with consultancy on evaluating technology solutions, support on proposal writing, and structuring bankable business plans.

The goal is to enable all players to participate in decarbonization and maintain regional connectivity and competition.

How can EU funding instruments (e.g., Horizon Europe, CEF, Innovation Fund) be better aligned with private capital needs?

To attract more private investment in short sea shipping, EU funding must better bridge the gap between innovation and large-scale commercial deployment. Current programs like Horizon Europe and CEF focus on R&D and infrastructure but fall short at bridging the gap between innovation and commercial deployment. To bridge this gap we need:

Blended finance and risk-sharing tools – Combine grants with concessional loans and guarantees to lower capital costs and attract private investors.

Regulatory certainty and scaling support – Provide clear, long-term emissions and fuel policies, and shift EU funding toward scaling solutions through performance-based or fleet-level financing.

Simplification and coordination – Streamline access to EU funds, align regulations, and create a coherent funding pipeline from innovation to deployment.

The goal should be to use public funds not to replace private investment, but to de-risk the green transition in short sea shipping, making it both sustainable and commercially viable.

Are there specific technologies you see as “game changers” for shortsea shipping decarbonization or would you prefer to refer to solid technical solutions towards decarbonization available today?

When we talk about decarbonizing shipping, it’s important to recognize that we already have a number of technical solutions available today with numerous real applications, proven, and ready to deploy.

First, operational measures with digitalisation, as well as energy optimisation technologies, such as efficiency propellers and ESDs may not sound groundbreaking, but they offer immediate emissions savings and can be scaled quickly across fleets.

Second, wind-assisted propulsion is a technology gaining traction. Having numerous installations in operation, they present 10–30% savings depending on the vessel and the trade route. Especially suction sails demonstrate an attractive payback time between 2–5 years when vessels are operating at fixed routes with high wind potential.
Third, onboard carbon capture, while still under development, may prove a game-changing solution, especially interesting for short sea shipping considering the proximity of short sea routes to port infrastructure and receiving facilities.

Each of these technologies brings value, but the real impact will come from choosing the right combination of these solutions for their fleet and trade.

Closing, while technical solutions to significantly reduce emissions in shipping are available and are demonstrating their effectiveness with results from real applications, we need suitable financing to progress from pilots to wider adoption within the industry.