LNG is enjoying something of a heyday right now in the lead up to the adoption of the IMO 2020 sulphur limit on January 1st. More than 40 orders have been placed for LNG-powered vessels as of May 2019 and this trend is expected to continue; a recent study from the Korean Development Bank and Korea Trade Investment Programme Agency estimates that such vessels will comprise 60% of newbuild orders by 2025. These increasing investments are clear signs of the growing global demand for LNG bunkers as a commercially and ...

To achieve compliance with the sulphur cap, simply switching to a low sulphur fuel at January 2020 will not be enough. High sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) is primarily based on residual fuel and these tend to stick to the inside of fuel tanks and pipelines forming layers of sludge and sediments. The accumulated layers of existing sludge in the fuel tanks and pipelines may contaminate the new fuel loaded, rendering the fuel non-compliant and pushing emissions above the 0.50% sulphur cap. Cleaning this out will require exhaustive efforts – either ...

With 1 January 2020 less than five and a half months away, INTERCARGO expresses its growing concern in view of the magnitude of the challenge lying ahead for the industry and the need for a smooth transition. The global availability of safe compliant fuels remains a key question largely unanswered. The requirement for the sulphur content of fuel oil used by ships operating outside designated emission control areas not to exceed 0.50% as of 1 January 2020 marks a sea change in the marine fuels’ supply chain. It is extremely ...

We’re in the final stretch of the long-awaited International Maritime Organization shipping regulation, which will see the global shipping fleet having to move to a fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% from 2020 from the current limit of 3.5% The options for the shipping industry With less than six months to implementation, the shipping industry would have largely decided on the best way to tackle this new sulphur cap. As we have mentioned in previous notes, the options are: burn a compliant fuel, install scrubbers which will allow ...

As the days count down to the entry into force of the 2020 0.5% sulphur cap, preparation is key. DNV GL offers a free web-based application of the Ship Implementation Plan (SIP) that ship owners and managers can use to prepare vessel-specific SIPs and maintain an overview of their fleet. While not mandatory, the SIP is an IMO guidance which all ships are encouraged to prepare and implement to be ready for 1 January 2020. “As we approach 2020, good preparation will be essential to ensure a smooth transition into ...

Rapid decarbonisation of global energy supplies will have radical implications for the global shipping industry, detailed in a new report from MSI. Vessel selection will be critical, requiring divestment from sectors with the greatest exposure to fossil fuels. The consequences for shipping markets of a major shift in energy consumption away from hydrocarbons and towards renewables and biofuels is the subject of a report prepared by MSI on behalf of the European Climate Foundation that projects two demand frameworks – ‘Reduction’ and ‘Reference’ – designed to provide broad narrative and ...

Beginning on 1 January 2020, all vessels worldwide will only be able to refuel using fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5 percent – this is the requirement of the global fuel guideline known as IMO2020. As of 1 March, no vessel will be permitted to have on board any fuel with a high sulphur content. Only ships with exhaust gas cleaning systems will be excluded. In order to be compliant at the turn of the year and to consume their remaining heavy fuel oil in time, shipping companies ...

On July 11 MAN Energy Solutions, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and HSD Engine (HSD) have signed a strategic agreement to cooperate in the field of marine engine systems digitization. The signing took place in Copenhagen. Continuing a long relationship, the companies now aim to define a framework for a future long-term strategic digital cooperation. “MAN Energy Solutions is determined to drive the digital transition of the marine industry”, says Brian Østergaard Sørensen, Head of R&D 2-Stroke Business at MAN Energy Solutions. “We strongly believe that this transition can ...

All new ships for UK waters ordered from 2025 should be designed with zero-emission capable technologies, in ambitious plans set out by Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani to cut pollution from the country’s maritime sector. The commitment is set out in the Clean Maritime Plan published today. The government is also looking at ways to incentivise the transition to zero-emission shipping and will consult on this next year. The plan also includes a £1 million competition to find innovative ways to reduce maritime emissions and is published alongside a call for ...

ABS and MARIN have launched a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to investigate transparent and validated methods to assess performance of wind-assisted shipping propulsion technologies, a key driver in owners/operators investment decision-making. The JIP covers the majority of all marketed wind-assisted ship propulsors and aims to overcome barriers to the uptake of these technologies by: • Improving methods for transparent performance prediction • Using the improved methods to provide ship owners/operators with fast predictions for their fleet • Reviewing the regulatory environment to identify gaps and make recommendations and provide examples ...

Since taking delivery of the first of its ‘Green Funnel’ LNG-fuelled Aframax crude oil tankers a year ago, in July 2018, PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has accumulated data showing that using LNG as a primary fuel for these large-capacity tankers enabled a 30 per cent reduction of CO2 emissions compared with similar vessels powered by traditional heavy fuel. This reduction exceeds the original design target values. Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice President and CTO/COO of Sovcomflot, delivered a report on the first results of operating ‘Green Funnel’ series tankers while visiting ...

It is true that shipping, along with aviation, is probably the most difficult sector in transport to fully decarbonise. One would assume that the EU is running discussions at high speed to bring the emissions of shipping, one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sectors of the global economy, down as fast as possible. Quite the opposite is the case though, with shipping gaining only very little attention in European climate policy. One directive including some points on sustainable shipping is the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive, which states that ...

The technology group Wärtsilä has achieved a new technology benchmark with the introduction of the marine sector’s first hybrid installation for a bulk carrier. This innovative system will be installed on the M/V ‘Paolo Topic’, a bulk carrier built at Onomichi Dockyard in Japan and managed by Marfin Management S.A.M. The project agreement was signed on July 8 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Wärtsilä’s hybrid power module, the Wärtsilä HY, will ensure the seamless integration and control of the technologies to be installed, with the ship’s various existing power production systems. ...

Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, Petrospot talks about the controversial adoption of exhaust gas cleaning systems ahead of IMO 2020. “To scrub, or not to scrub” is a question that I get asked quite frequently in this job. It’s certainly a contentious issue at the moment with plenty of fierce debate centred on the long-term impact of these specialised exhaust gas cleaning systems. To answer honestly, both myself and ‘the jury’ are still very much out on the long-term viability of scrubbers, from a financial, environmental and, ultimately, political standpoint. I ...

AS Tallink Grupp’s subsidiary Tallink Superfast Ltd. and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH have signed the loan agreement in the amount of EUR 197,6 million to finance the new EUR 247 million LNG powered fast ferry currently under construction in Rauma Marine Constructions Oy. The loan is arranged and long term financing is provided by KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH. Finnish Export Credit Agency “Finnvera” guarantees 95 per cent of this post-delivery buyer credit. The loan is secured by the mortgage on the new vessel and the corporate guarantee of AS Tallink Grupp. This ...