Fuels

During the 2020 SAFETY4SEA Limassol Forum, Dr. John Kokarakis, Vice President Technology & Business Development, Bureau Veritas, discussed ammonia as a potential solution for carbon-free shipping. During his presentation, Dr. Kokarakis presented the advantages of ammonia on the one hand, and the challenges on the other, adding that difficulties around ammonia can be controlled by technical and regulatory options.

ISO informed that it has published the 'ISO/PAS 23263:2019 Petroleum products — Fuels (class F) — Considerations for fuel suppliers and users regarding marine fuel quality in view of the implementation of maximum 0,50 % sulphur in 2020'.

New EU rules have been adopted to ensure the build-up of alternative refuelling points across Europe with common standards for their design and use. Member States must set and make public their targets and present their national policy frameworks by end-2016. "Alternative fuels are key to improving the security of energy supply, reducing the impact of transport on the environment and boosting EU competitiveness", said Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, commissioner for transport. "With these new rules, the EU provides long-awaited legal certainty for companies to start investing, and the possibility for economies of scale. EU Member States requested flexibility in deploying the infrastructure. It is now up to them to develop the right national policy frameworks." Up to now, clean fuels have been held back by three main barriers: the high cost of vehicles, a low level of consumer acceptance, and the lack of recharging and refuelling stations. This is a vicious circle. With the new "directive for the deployment of the alternative fuels infrastructure", Member States will have to provide a minimum infrastructure for alternative fuels such as electricity, hydrogen and natural gas, as well as common EU-wide standards for equipment needed and user information. Access to liquefied natural...

Compliance with 2020 sulphur cap is more than simply switching to a low sulphur fuel. HSFO, the fuel that was used so far but now will be inappropriate unless there are scrubbers installed, is primarily based on residual fuel and tends to adhere to the inside of fuel tanks. As such, a proper tank cleaning becomes necessary.

Liberia Maritime Authority published a Marine Operations Note, reminding all shipowners and operators that from 2019, each ship of 5,000 gross tonnage and above should collect fuel consumption data for 2019 and each subsequent calendar year or portion thereof.

With new, stricter regulations coming into force regarding fuels’ sulphur content, the quality of bunkers delivered to ships is of high importance; they need to meet the agreed purchase specifications and applicable global and local regulations. Nevertheless, there are cases in which ‘bad bunkers’ are delivered, which may lead to damages to ship engines, disputes between owners and charterers, even detentions and fines.

GasLog Ltd. announced an agreement with Methane Services Ltd., an affiliate of BG Group, to purchase three LNG carriers from MSL's fleet and to charter those ships back to MSL for six-year initial terms. MSL also will have options to extend the term of the time charters for two of the ships for a period of either three or five years at its election. The ships to be acquired will be nominated by MSL from an agreed group of six sister ships built in 2006 and 2007. GasLog supervised the construction of all six ships and has provided technical management for the ships since delivery. The aggregate cost to GasLog for the ships is expected to be approximately $468 million. Each LNG carrier to be acquired is modern, steam powered and has a capacity of 145,000 cubic meters. The Company estimates that upon their acquisition, these ships will represent approximately $426.3 million of incremental contracted revenue over their initial charter terms and add over $50.0 million per annum to GasLog's EBITDA1. Paul Wogan, CEO of GasLog, commented that "we are very pleased that we will be able to add these LNG carriers to our fleet as it again demonstrates our...

According to a new report by CEDIGAZ, the International Center for Natural Gas Information, LNG as a fuel will capture a significant market share in the transport sector by 2035. The greatest potential is seen in road transport, were annual demand is projected to reach 96 million tons per year (mtpa) in CEDIGAZ’ base scenario while demand in the marine sector could grow to an estimated 77 mtpa. The rail sector could add another 6 mtpa to global demand. However, the development of LNG as a transport fuel faces a number of challenges, and will have to go hand in hand with the development of fuelling infrastructure. Fuel cost differentials will drive the growth in trucking sector Use of LNG in land transport will be largely limited to heavy duty vehicles (HDV) and will essentially be driven by the difference between the price of diesel and that of LNG. In contrast with the marine sector, environmental legislation is unlikely to play a major role in triggering the adoption of LNG as a fuel for land transportation, as traditional fuels and technologies will be able to comply with the gradual tightening of emissions standards.   (Image Credit: CEDIGAZ) The cost advantage...

A study of 3,000 bunker samples by V.Group's SeaTec Condition Monitoring team has highlighted the most common causes for off spec fuel. Belgium, Germany, and Gibraltar are noted by the analysis to be the top three countries in terms of percentage of normal samples

With less than twelve months remaining for the new regulation to take place, ship owners can’t waste time anymore; within 2019, they need to decide on the most appropriate approach for their operations in order to comply with the Sulphur cap and remain commercially sustainable in the long run. So far, there is no silver bullet solution while each option introduces additional challenges to operators.