Many issues remain unresolved following last week’s intersessional working group (ISWG) meeting at the IMO to develop guidelines to support the consistent implementation of the 0.50% sulphur from 1 January 2020. The meeting made good progress on planning and preparatory issues, having developed a ship implementation plan and informative annexes that will be sent to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) in October this year for approval. The ISWG, under the auspices of the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR), also developed draft text for regulatory amendments under ...

XOS, a trusted partner in the petroleum industry for sulfur regulation compliance, is entering the marine market with a new solution. Petra MAX™, a portable XRF analyzer, delivers combined analysis of sulfur and harmful elements like calcium, zinc, phosphorus, and vanadium. Unlike other solutions, Petra MAX is fully compliant with sulfur test methods in ISO 8217 for marine fuels. The decision by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce the worldwide cap on vessel sulfur emissions from 3.5% to 0.5% come January 2020 will prompt widespread adoption of onboard testing ...

Confusion about whether the existing ISO 8217 marine fuel quality standard will cover fuel blends produced to meet the 0.50% sulphur limit has, hopefully, been cleared up at last week’s meeting at the International Maritime Organization. Concerns about the safety of fuel blends complying with the upcoming 0.50% sulphur limit were on the agenda for the intersessional working group (ISWG) meeting of the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR), which was tasked with developing guidelines to support the consistent implementation of the 2020 sulphur limit. Some documents submitted to ...

The 3,500 m³ Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger Diogo Cão was launched last Saturday at the Keppel Nantong shipyard in China, a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine. This green vessel is the second of three 3,500 m³ hoppers to be launched, equipped with an exhaust gas treatment system filtering out and virtually eliminating many pollutants from the exhaust gases. In total, Jan De Nul Group ordered six such ultra-low emission Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers, called Ultra-Low Emission Vessels, five of which are being built at Keppel: three small 3,500 m³, ...

There appears to be significant support among IMO member States to ensure consistency in fuel oil testing and verification procedures for the verification of compliance with MARPOL Annex VI sulphur limits through regulatory amendments. The intersessional working group (ISWG) meeting of the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR), held last week at IMO, considered proposals to include a definition of “sulphur content” in Regulation 2 of MARPOL Annex VI. China had proposed to the 72nd meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 72) that the definition should ...

Lately, several assertions have been made that ISO 8217:2017 does not encompass future max. 0.50% sulphur marine fuel oils and these to potentially cause severe safety issues. As these claims create quite some anxiety in the industry, the ISO working group, whilst respecting the anxiety raised, would like to reassure the industry that the General requirements of ISO 8217:2017 along with the characteristics included in Table 1 and 2 of ISO 8217: 2017 cover 2020 0.50% max. sulphur fuels in the same way as they cover today’s fuels including the ...

After an extensive study project, Eco Marine Power (EMP) has released some of the key findings related to the use of solar power on ships and the selection and installation of related equipment. This study was carried out over a 5 year period and included: installation of a trial system on the high speed RoRo Ferry Blue Star Delos, several ship surveys, computer-aided analysis, plus evaluation of various equipment in a test lab and also at an outdoor evaluation area. The overall system design used as a basis for the ...

While the world is struggling to live up to its commitment to limit climate emissions, new data indicate that climate change may be more severe and occur more rapidly than anticipated earlier. The IMO is looking for ways to make shipping climate-neutral over the next decades. DNV GL gives an overview of the status of the discussion and potential future measures. When the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 in response to the increasing signs of global climate change, shipping and aviation were not included. Instead, the IMO and ICAO ...

With more shipowners opting to install marine exhaust gas cleaning systems to their fleets, together with the publication of a UMAS report putting paid to the notion that LNG is a viable way of meeting emissions rules, could high-sulphur fuels remain the shipowners’ fuel of choice for meeting emissions requirements? Marc Sima, the founder and CEO of Germany-based FuelSave thinks so. “High sulphur fuels will remain the industry’s favoured fuel until methanol and hydrogen-based alternatives have attained commercial viability. Until then, the pursuit of LNG is just throwing good money ...

Diesel power specialist Royston has developed a special ecospeed analysis capability as part of its enginei electronic fuel management system (EFMS) to enable ship operators to identify and maintain optimum vessel speeds for efficient fuel usage. Devised with marine engineering specialists from Newcastle University, Royston has developed a new ecospeed algorithm based on speed modelling and an analysis of vessel operating data, correlating and synchronising information from different sensors installed on the vessel. Ecospeed calculates a unique optimum performance profile for individual vessels by taking into account a range of ...

MAN Diesel & Turbo has won the order to provide the propulsion systems for 2 × 2,525-teu containership newbuildings, which will join the fleet of Pasha Hawaii, the U.S. Jones Act carrier in the Hawaii trade lane. Each system will comprise a 7S80ME-GI Mk 9.5 main engine, 3 × MAN 6L35/44DF GenSets and an MAN Alpha FPP propeller system. The vessels will be constructed at the Keppel AmFELS yard in Brownsville, Texas to Keppel’s proprietary design. Bjarne Foldager – ‎Vice President, Sales & Promotion, Two-Stroke Business at MAN Diesel & ...

The Methanol Institute has welcomed the decision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to invite the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to develop a standard for methyl/ethyl alcohol as a marine fuel and a standard for methyl/ethyl alcohol fuel couplings. The decision, taken at the 99th session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 99) is a significant step forward in the recognition of Methanol as a marine fuel that already meets IMO’s 2020 regulations and provides a pathway for very low carbon fuels in future. “The global chemicals industry ...

An IMO working group is meeting (9-13 July) to develop guidelines to support the consistent implementation of the 0.50% limit for the sulphur content in fuel oil used on board ships from 1 January 2020, reducing from the current limit of 3.50% (the limit is already 0.10% in designated emission control areas). The intersessional meeting, under the auspices of the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR), will work on developing some very detailed guidelines to support consistent implementation of the 0.50% limit. This will include guidance on preparatory and ...

Leading Classification Society ClassNK granted an Approval in Principle (AIP) based on its Rule Part GF which adopts IGF Code (regulation for ships using low-flashpoint fuels) to NYK Line and Japan Marine United (JMU) for their joint project on the concept design of an LNG-fueled 200K DWT bulk carrier. The design is based on a 200K DWT bulk carrier developed by JMU. Despite its added weight due to the increased amount of equipment such as its LNG-fuelled tank and LNG fuel supply system, it provides more cargo hold capacity. By ...

ABS is pleased to confirm that the ABS-classed Diamond Gas Orchid, the world’s first “Sayaringo STaGE” next generation LNG carrier, has been delivered to Diamond LNG Shipping, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corporation and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK). “As a global leader in LNG, ABS is proud to support continued innovation in the sector and help advance another industry first,” said ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer, Jamie Smith. “With newly designed cargo tanks and a hybrid propulsion, this next generation carrier can carry more LNG ...