LNG

Alfa Laval, the Swedish specialist company offering maritime equipment for heating, cooling and gas solutions and exhaust cleaning among many other pieces of equipment, has signed an accord with South Korean shipyard K-Shipbuilding (KSB) for Alfa Laval’s OceanGlide product.

Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), the first Chinese port to launch LNG bunkering services two years ago, said it registered bonded LNG fuelling of 260,000 cubic metres in 2023, double the total of the previous year as the fuel market continued to expand.

Accelleron Industries AG, a market leader in high-powered turbochargers used in LNG-fuelled ships, has been successfully spun-off from ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB), the Swiss-Swedish power technology group.

Accelleron’s shares are now trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich under the ticker symbol “ACLN”.

The stock was first priced at 24.75 Swiss francs ($25.50) per share.

The listing follows the approval by ABB shareholders for the spin-off of Baden, Switzerland headquartered Accelleron at ABB’s extraordinary general shareholder meeting on September 7.

“As an independent business, Accelleron will now focus on implementing its own, independent growth strategy with an attractive cash generation profile,” said a statement.

“This will build upon Accelleron’s position as a market leader in heavy-duty turbocharging for the marine and energy industries,” it added.

The cruise liner “AIDAnova” was the first in its class to be operated on purely LNG fuel and uses Accelleron’s TPL-C turbochargers.

Legacy

“I am excited about the opportunities ahead, building on our 100-year legacy with ABB and our position as the market leader in high-power turbocharging,” said Oliver Riemenschneider, Chairman of Accelleron's Board.

“We have an impressive growth strategy driven by our leading technology and services offering, coupled with our commitment to research and development,” added Riemenschneider.

“I am confident that we are well positioned to take advantage of global megatrends and deliver compelling results for our stakeholders,” he stated.

The statement added that “sustainability” was at the center of Accelleron’s business as the company is a pioneer in reducing fuel consumption and improving the emissions profiles for customers.

“Accelleron is well placed to capitalize on the opportunities presented by renewable energy and sustainable transportation, with its best-in-class product portfolio, its leading R&D capabilities and its acknowledged innovation,” added company.

MSC Cruises, the Italian global cruise line registered in Switzerland and based in Geneva, said that its first dual-fuelled ship with LNG capability, the “MSC World Europa”, would officially be named on November 13 in the Qatari capital Doha at a ceremony including the inauguration of the LNG-producing nation's new Arabian Gulf Grand Cruise Terminal.

The Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) has released its most detailed version yet of a publication of operational guidelines to enhance safety during the marine bunkering of LNG fuel.

The SGMF said this third revision of “LNG as a marine fuel - Safety and Operational Guidelines - Bunkering” is the most comprehensive coverage of all aspects related to LNG bunkering operations.

“The maritime industry is increasingly adopting LNG as the fuel of choice for newbuild vessels,” said the Society.

“Together with the environmental performance LNG use provides, this growing trend is also the result of the considerable expansion of the LNG bunkering supply infrastructure,” it added.

“Facilities are now well established in most parts of the world, and there are more operational LNG bunkering vessels serving the industry than ever before,” stated the SGMF.

In anticipation of this growth and beyond, the safe use of LNG as a marine fuel has been a priority issue for SGMF.

Insights

“The information contained in this publication is gold dust for anyone bunkering an LNG fuelled ship,” said the Chairman of the SGMF Samir Bailouni, who is also Chief Operating Officer of Qatari gas shipping line Nakilat.

“These practices and insights are collated from the best the industry has to offer, and I extend my thanks to our members for providing this invaluable information not only for the benefit of the industry, but for society as a whole,” stated Bailouni.

The first published version of the SGMF’s LNG bunkering guidelines was in 2014 and it has now been “significantly updated and revised for 2022”.

The SGMF said the guidelines are recommended by the society as a “must have” for anyone engaged with any aspect of LNG bunkering.

“The safety track record of LNG bunkering operations has been exceptional and SGMF has played a leading role in developing a ‘safety first’ approach to bunkering operations through its publications, work, and influence,” declared the SGMF.

The SGMF noted that among its membership organisations there were tens of LNG bunkering ships operating with hundreds of ships using LNG between them and with LNG bunkering occurrences now in their thousands.

The publication covers not only actual operations, but also the actions and activities leading up to that final stage, making the bunkering efficient and safe.

“The overall aim of this new publication is to ensure that gas-fuelled ships can be bunkered safely, reliably, efficiently, and in an environmentally responsible way,” said Mark Bell, General Manager of the SGMF.

“The industry now has a comprehensive portfolio of publications for LNG as a marine fuel and the Society will continue to update them with good, if not the best, practice the industry has to offer,” he added.

April 21 (LNGJ) - Seaspan Marine. the ferries-to-tugs shipping and ship services company based in Vancouver, said it secured an Approval in Principle from French classification society, Bureau Veritas, for the design of a liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel with 7.600 cubic metres capacity. The vessel has been designed for ship-to-ship LNG transfers as well as coastal-short sea shipping by Vard Marine Inc., a partner of Seaspan Ferries.

   “Seaspan is committed to bringing clean LNG bunkers to the West Coast of North America through our LNG bunkering business, in order to assist ship owners in meeting their IMO 2030 targets,” said Seaspan Marine Vice President Gord Miller, who oversees the Ferries unit. 

Feb 24 (LNGJ) - Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line), the Japanese shipping company, said it was pleased to be the operator of the first Singapore-owned LNG bunkering vessel, the 7,500 cubic metres capacity “FueLNG Bellina”, as it entered service in the Asian port city. The vessel is owned by the FueLNG joint venture comprising Keppel Offshore and Marine and Shell Eastern Petroleum. “We are proud to get involved in this meaningful event through our technical expertise on ship management of liquefied gas carriers,” explained K- Line.

   “Singapore is one of the busiest bunkering locations on the globe. The vessel’s debut is part of the maritime industry’s efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse-gas,” added K-Line. “LNG enables vessels to emit less GHG when used as marine fuel compared to conventional heavy fuel oils, and having the ‘FueLNG Bellina’ provide LNG bunkering on a ship-to-ship basis in Singapore offers more opportunities to various ship operators to choose a greener marine fuel,” stated K-Line.

Pavilion Energy of Singapore has signed a cooperation agreement with Gasum of Finland to develop a global LNG bunkering supply network for customers in Singapore and Northern Europe, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp.