Pawan Sahni Highlights the Role of Technical Assurance in Navigating the Net-Zero Transition

Pawan Sahni, VP and Business Development Director, Middle East & Africa, DNV Maritime, examined how classification, innovation and technical assurance can help shipowners navigate an uncertain maritime energy transition at TMS TACCC 2026. His presentation highlighted the growing range of alternative fuels and technologies being considered across the maritime sector, including ammonia, hydrogen, methanol, batteries, wind propulsion, fuel cells and onboard carbon capture. He noted that regulatory development is progressing at both regional and international levels, while global alignment remains an important consideration for long-term investment decisions. Pawan outlined the work underway within the IMO framework to address regulatory barriers and safety requirements associated with new fuels and technologies. He emphasised that the development of appropriate technical and regulatory frameworks will be important to enable their safe adoption across future maritime operations. He also highlighted the value of scenario-based planning, encouraging shipowners to stress-test fuel and technology strategies against different regulatory futures. Using a VLCC fleet example, he demonstrated how alternative strategies can perform differently depending on the pace and direction of the transition. Pawan concluded by outlining three key priorities for shipowners: accelerating energy efficiency across existing vessels and newbuilds, considering all available compliance options where ships are exposed to GHG regulations, and using scenario-based fleet planning to build more robust fuel and technology strategies. #TMSTACCC #Maritime #Decarbonisation #Sustainability #ClimateAction #Shipping #EnergyTransition #AlternativeFuels #MaritimeTechnology #DNV #TechnicalAssurance