LNG

Germany has extended the deadline for grants for equipping and retrofitting seagoing vessels to use LNG as marine fuel for another year, while LNG trucks on German motorways will continue to be except from paying tolls.

The latest US Government short-term energy outlook addressed issued such as high US natural gas inventories and out put as well as low prices and the impact on refined fuel from the forthcoming International Maritime Organization sulfur cap to reduce pollution in ports.

The most comprehensive study ever undertaken to assess the advantages of liquefied natural gas as a marine fuel, involving leading consultants, academics, the oil and gas majors and the leading global engine-makers, has given LNG a massive endorsement.

Stena Bulk, the Swedish shipping line with 107 vessels in its fleet including three LNG carriers, has made a major investment in exhaust-cleaning technology to help meet the International Maritime Organization sulfur cap by 2020.

The American Bureau of Shipping, US classification society, has launched a new guide for liquefied natural gas tank barges with remote control and monitoring of essential systems.

China has followed Singapore and banned the use of open-loop exhaust-cleaners from its ports as the International Maritime Organization sulfur cap for fuel comes into force in less than a year, forcing shipowners to adopt cleaner fuel such as LNG or to use the abatement technology.

Shipping companies are currently making preparations to comply with the IMO regulations to reduce air pollution in ports by using cleaner fuel with a lower sulfur content of 0.5 percent compared with the current 3.5 percent limit.

Analysts had said that between 2,500 and 4,500 ships were likely to install an exhaust-gas cleaning system, known as a scrubber, to meet the regulations instead of buying the more expensive low-sulfur fuel or switching to LNG.

Singapore is one of the main transit routes for LNG carriers and is the main Asian proponent of LNG as a bunkering fuel.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore banned open-loop emission cleaners in December 2018 with the aim of protecting the marine environment.

That’s because open-loop scrubbers use seawater to clean the exhaust. Seawater is supplied through a pipe and while carbon-dioxide dissolves into the water, it creates polluting carbonic acid, and bicarbonate or carbonate ions.

To ensure that the port waters are clean, the discharge of wash water from open-loop exhaust-gas scrubbers in Singapore port waters will be prohibited and now the same rules will apply in the main Chinese ports.

Ships fitted with only open-loop scrubbers calling at the ports will be required to use compliant fuel.

China has adopted the same rules as Singapore and will require ships with hybrid scrubbers to switch to the closed-loop mode of operation when in port.

The Chinese have had three designated Emission Control Areas (ECAs) since 2015. They are the Pearl River and Yangtze River Deltas in southern and eastern china and the Bohai Sea area of northern China.

In these port areas the Chinese authorities have brought in a gradual implementation of the new requirements concerning emissions of air pollutants from ships.

The Chinese Ministry of Transport has now banned open-loop scrubbers from that ECAs that now cover most of China’s coastline.

The latest ship emission regulation document released by the Chinese Ministry of Transport said it had banned ships from discharging wastewater and burning residue from open-loop scrubbers in the coastal and river ECAs, while ships are required to record the details of wastewater and residue disposal.

China has already brought in its own sulfur caps in the main ports on the Yangtze River Delta around Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province and northern Zhejiang province. 

Under the Chinese rules, for the Yangtze River Delta ships must switch to compliant fuel with a sulfur content not exceeding 0.5 percent within one hour of arriving at their berth and burn compliant fuel until not more than one hour prior to departure.

Mitsui OSK Lines, the Japanese shipping company whose operated fleet includes almost 100 LNG carriers, said that in an uncertain political and economic environment in the year ahead, one issue that would have a notable impact on the global shipping industry is the enforcement of new sulfur-oxide emissions regulations in January 2020.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, has held its annual China and Hong Kong business gathering at Xiamen port city on China’s southeast coast at which the main issues were LNG fuel and the International Maritime Organization’s sulfur cap for shipping.

The International Maritime Organization committee overseeing the sulfur cap for shipping from 2020 that is encouraging the change-over to LNG and alternative ship fuels with lower emissions is set to meet in London from October 22-26 to decide a final action programme.

April 16 (LNGJ) - The United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) based in London has adopted an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by 50 percent from ships by 2050. The measure is in addition to the cap on sulphur-oxide content in fuel from 2020 that will lead to more use of LNG, exhaust-cleaning systems and low-emission fuels. The UK Chamber of Shipping praised the latest IMO agreement to reduce emissions. “Shipping moves 90 percent of global trade and people understand the link between trade and prosperity, but rightly they demand we do it in a sustainable and responsible way,” said the UK shipping industry statement.