IAPH develops methanol bunkering safety checklist
The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has come up with a checklist to support safe methanol bunkering in ports.
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IAPH argues that methanol is emerging as a potential alternative bunkering fuel for shipping. “When produced from sustainable hydrogen and CO2 by direct air capture, it is a carbon neutral fuel," the port organisation says.
Some industry bodies have noted that transporting methanol has been an established practice globally. However, some modifications in port infrastructure are needed to ensure safe handling of methanol as marine fuel.
The Methanol Institute (MI) said in its recent report that infrastructure modifications are needed to prevent fuel vapourisation and to provide "appropriate ventilation, leak detection, heat detection and fire extinguishing equipment." This is because methanol burns at an extremely low temperature and its flames are almost invisible during the day.
IAPH's guidelines tries to handle these concerns by including points related to temperature, pressure, preparedness of firefighting and other safety equipment while bunkering.
The port organisation's Clean Marine Fuels Working Group has developed seven safety bunkering checklists that cover ship-to-ship and truck-to-ship transfer.
Peter Alkema, chairman of the working group said, "Our Working Group has focused primarily on safety aspects related to the bunkering of new fuels, as we are driven to advance the transition towards clean marine fuels for decarbonisation and air quality improvement."
By Aparupa Mazumder
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