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Reflecting the Damen Shipyards Group’s ambition to become the world’s most sustainable shipbuilder, Damen Schelde Marine Services is on a mission “to become one of the most sustainable suppliers of marine diesel engine parts”, says Diana Ponirou, who works in Sales & Sustainability at DSMS. To meet this ambitious goal, Diana is implementing an extensive sustainability programme at DSMS.
Diana Ponirou of Damen Schelde Marine Services.
The DSMS sustainability programme has its origins in the ‘sustainability day’ that was organised by Young Damen and DSMS in November 2021, when twenty-five young Damen professionals from all over the country gathered in Vlissingen to discuss ideas for increasing the sustainability of DSMS.
Diana was one of the Young Damen participants on that day; at the time she was working at Damen Gorinchem as a Sustainability & Circular Economy intern. “This is how I came to be working here,” she says. “The reason that DSMS hired me was to implement more policies that will make the company more sustainable.”
“One of the first changes has been with our packaging – we now use recycled plastic for our bags and our warehouse is trying to use less packing materials, reusing wherever possible. But we have made sure that we have not compromised on quality; we have kept to our high standards.” Another change implemented in the warehouse has been improved sorting of waste, which has been especially interesting for metals.
DSMS has also started the process of getting the ISO 14001 certification. “We currently have ISO 9001, but the ISO 14001 includes environmental aspects such as reducing energy use,” Diana explains. “We will need to show that we are improving. If all goes well, we will receive certification later this year.”
“Our aim is to reduce electricity use by between five and ten per cent every year until 2030. This is when you see that being sustainable is more than the environment; it’s also about saving money.” Diana Ponirou
Reducing electricity use plays an important part in achieving ISO 14001 certification. To this end, the DSMS offices have had their ‘regular’ lights replaced with LED lights. “We have also installed sun blinds to control the temperature in our offices better – we want to use less electricity on the air conditioning in the summer and less gas for heating in the winter,” she notes. “Our aim is to reduce electricity use by between five and ten per cent every year until 2030. This is when you see that being sustainable is more than the environment; it’s also about saving money.”
On the subject of money, it is interesting to ask Diana what DSMS’ clients think about sustainability. “It depends on the client, which country they are in and how big they are, but in general, clients are asking for more and more sustainable services from us. Some of them, for example, have ‘no plastic’ policies.”
Looking into the future, DSMS is already preparing for the certain growth in non-diesel propulsion in the shipping industry. “We already have purchasers researching this question, building a database on what other fuels are relevant in the shipping industry,” says Diana. “And this is part of our long-term vision to broaden our scope to offer parts for more sustainable engines.”