The Week in Alternative Fuels
Here are some of the key developments in alternative bunker fuels from the past week.
PHOTO: NYK Bulkship has received the dual-fuel methanol-compatible chemical carrier, the 'Seymour Sun'. NYK Line
Ship classification society DNV announced this week it will lead a study culminating in safety and operational guidelines for ammonia bunkering in Singapore.
NYK Bulkship has received a methanol-powered dual-fuel chemical carrier from South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. Meanwhile, Wärtsilä will make five methanol-powered engines for shipping company Van Oord’s new offshore wind installation vessel.
MTM Ship Management wants to fuel more of its fleet with biofuels after successfully completing a voyage from the Netherlands to Brazil using a B30 blend.
LNG company Nakilat has taken delivery of the fourth and final dual-fuel LNG carrier ship in a series built by South Korea-based Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
UK-based Oasis Marine Power has completed the initial stage of testing of an offshore charging station, and logistics giant Maersk has partnered renewables company Ørsted to provide buoy-based charging to idle hybrid- and all-electric vessels.
Here are the top five stories in alternative fuels this week:
DNV to study ammonia bunkering safety in Singapore
Shipping classification society DNV will lead a study to define safety and operational guidelines for ammonia bunkering and run a set of trials across two locations in Singapore.
DNV has seen burgeoning interest in ships powered by ammonia or built to be ready to run on ammonia in the future.
Ammonia-ready means that a vessel meets operational safety requirements and that its main engines can be converted to run on ammonia. DNV gave its first ammonia-ready notation to Höegh Autoliners new car carrier series in April last year.
Ammonia has generally been produced with hydrocarbons as so-called “grey” ammonia.
Ammonia can be produced without carbon emissions either in its “blue” form through carbon capture and storage, or “green” form produced with renewable energy.
But while blue and green ammonia have been put forward as some of the most promising alternative bunker fuels to decarbonise future voyages, major safety concerns remain around toxicity and safe handling of ammonia, as well as its corrosiveness in fuel tanks.
“The safe handling of ammonia is one such gap which urgently needs to be closed, given the threat it poses to seafarers and ships unless properly managed,” says DNV Maritime chief executive Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen.
DNV will be joined by Singaporean infrastructure developer Surbana Jurong and academic institution Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA) for the study, which will also recommend ammonia bunkering locations, look at different bunkering methods like truck-to-ship and ship-to-ship and forecast ammonia bunker demand.
The classification society expects to see ammonia fuel tests on ships by 2025 and commercial consumption by 2030.
NYK Bulkship takes delivery of methanol-fuelled chemical tanker
The Seymour Sun was built in South Korean Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and will be owned by Singapore-based NYK Bulkship Asia.
The 186-metre chemical tanker with 30,873 mt gross tonnage will be one of two newly built chemical carriers to be chartered by chemicals transporter Waterfront Shipping from NYK Bulkship, which was announced in December 2020.
Waterfront Shipping is owned by Methanex, the world’s largest methanol producer.
It will be capable of running on methanol or heavy fuel oil. When powered by methanol it can reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by adding water to cool the fuel during combustion.
This enables the vessel to comply with International Maritime Organisation Tier III NOx emission regulations, NYK Bulkship says.
Meanwhile, marine technology company Wärtsilä is building five methanol-powered engines for a new offshore wind installation vessel ordered by Dutch shipping contractor Van Oord at Yantai CIMC Raffles shipyard in China. The engines will be delivered by early next year. Wärtsilä will also provide thrusters for the vessel.
MTM intends to increase biofuel usage
Singapore-based shipping company MTM Ship Management wants to fuel more of its fleet with biofuels after running successful trials.
MTM completed a voyage from the Netherlands to Brazil using a B30 blend of biofuel and VLSFO (30% biofuel, 70% VLSFO).
The trial project was carried out in December by an MR tanker, the MTM Colorado, in collaboration with Trafigura that supplied the biofuel, MAN/B&W as engine makers, and Lloyds as a consultant. The company is expected to carry out more tests to evaluate the fuel.
The blend used during the trials is said to reduce well-to-wake emissions by as much as 35% compared with conventional residual fuel oils, says MTM.
The B30 biofuel blend consists of 30% fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), and when blended with VLSFO it produces a stable and clean fuel, MTM says.
FAME’s physical properties are very similar to conventional diesel and blends easily with LSMGO and VLSFO, the company adds.
Nakilat inducts fourth and final dual-fuelled LNG carrier
Qatari LNG shipping company Nakilat has taken delivery of the last dual-fuel LNG carrier in a series built by South Korea-based Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
The Global Sealine has a capacity of 174,000 cbm and will be delivered to Global Shipping, a joint venture between Nakilat and Maran Ventures. Global Shipping took delivery for the third LNG carrier in October last year.
These vessels will take Nakilat’s fleet to 74 vessels, which is roughly about 12% of the current global LNG fleet based on carrying capacity, says Nakilat.
Oasis successfully trials first offshore charging station
UK-based Oasis Marine Power has completed the initial stage of testing of an offshore charging station.
The first series of sea trials were performed at the Port of Cromarty Firth, Scotland this month. The Oasis Power Buoy became the first of its kind to complete sea trials, says Oasis.
The offshore power station is powered by zero-emission wind turbines and is initially meant to power Wind Farm Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs), before gradually expanding its range to hybrid- and all-electric vessels.
“We have proven that the concept is viable and are now working to optimise the design” says Oasis director George Smith.
The performance of the buoy will be evaluated further through a series of tests which include sustainable sea trials.
Major shipping and energy players like Maersk and Ørsted have also recently announced their venture into offshore vessel charging through their new enterprise ‘Stillstrom’. They plan to demonstrate their technology by the third quarter this year.
