Environmental Fuel News

Jan De Nul Group’s newest Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger Sanderus has just arrived in Belgium to execute maintenance dredging works in the coastal ports. Not just any dredger, but an ULEv with ultra-low emissions as this vessel has a two-stage catalytic filter system on board.The dredger Sanderus is Jan De Nul's fourth Ultra-Low Emission vessel (ULEv) that has been launched within the past year. The vessel was built in Singapore and left the shipyard in January after offshore tests. Another three major vessels with a same technology and ultra-low emissions are under construction.

German fleet operator SAL Heavy Lift has hired Inatech, a unit of Glencore, to ensure compliance with new low-sulphur emissions rules and optimize bunker strategies.Inatech has seen increased onboarding of its ‘Smart Trader’ app, which enables companies to map entire fleets of ships and visualize and plan for best port to bunker given sea and port conditions to achieve lowest prices for the desired quality of fuel. SAL Heavy Lift will apply Smart Trader across parent group Harren…

ABS, a global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, has granted Approval in Principle (AIP) to Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) for its LPG as Fuel system design.According to a press release, a dual-fuel engine capable of using both marine diesel oil and LPG as fuel, KHI claims the system simultaneously reduces fuel consumption and enables the engine to meet NOx Tier 3 regulations.“Using LPG as a fuel can lower emissions to air compared to conventional fuels, both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. We are proud to work with innovative partners such as KHI…

WinGD (Winterthur Gas & Diesel) has invested in fuel research with the development of a flexible injection system. In a whitepaper released today, ‘Flexible Injector to Advance Alternative Fuels Research’, the engine designers describe how the concept will play a crucial role in its investigations into low-carbon liquid fuels and engine injection concepts to harness them.The system was developed as part of HERCULES 2, a collaborative European engine research project which concluded in 2018.

Ecuador's environment minister, Raul Ledesma, said on Monday that a situation involving a sunken barge in the Galapagos Islands which was carrying 600 gallons of diesel is under control but added that authorities are "very concerned" about the vessel's recovery.The barge sank on Sunday after a crane at the La Predial dock of San Cristobal - the easternmost island of the Galapagos archipelago - fell while unloading cargo, Ecuador's navy said in a statement on Twitter.Located around 1…

Chinese marine fuel suppliers have signed up short-term deals to buy very low-sulphur fuel oil from companies like oil major Shell, Germany's Uniper and U.S. commodities trader Freepoint ahead of a new standard on emissions for the global shipping industry that kicks in on Jan. 1.While China's state refiners have pledged to produce a combined 14 million tonnes of the fuel for 2020 that complies with the tighter rules set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Beijing…

A focused Q&A with M.Sc. Chem. Eng. Anders M. Sørheim, Yara Marine TechnologiesHow important is material quality when selecting a scrubber system?If the intention of a scrubber installation is to operate the scrubber for the lifetime of the vessel, assuming a minimum of 10 years, then the material quality is imperative. A study performed by the American stainless-steel manufacturer ATI titled “Evaluation of Alloys for Marine Exhaust Scrubbers – Effect of Welding and a Crevice” confirmed the importance of correct material choice for scrubbers.

The Unified Command discussed plans to remove diesel fuel from the fishing vessel Sea Angels at the Onslow County Emergency Operations Center, Tuesday. The fishing vessel Sea Angels ran aground near Browns Inlet, North Carolina on Dec. 9, 2019.The Unified Command has identified safety of personnel responding to the grounding and the protection of the environment as the top priorities for the on-going response efforts. The response is complicated by the presence of unexploded ordnance in the area surrounding the vessel…

Classification Society ClassNK granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) based on its Rule Part GF which adopts IGF Code (regulation for ships using low-flashpoint fuels) to NS United Kaiun Kaisha, Ltd. and Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for their joint project on the concept design of an LNG-fueled capesize bulker.The main features of the design announced by Imabari Shipbuilding are as follows.“By installing two Type C LNG tanks at the stern, which are considered to be cost competitive and are comparatively easily to install…

Blount Boats, Inc. becomes the eighth shipyard company to join Green Marine.“We’re already committed to delivering vessels that exceed our clients’ expectations and now wish to go beyond compliance in our work in terms of the environment as well,” says Marcia Blount, the company’s president. “The Green Marine framework is tailor made for the marine industry and scalable to our size of operations. It will provide guidance towards greater sustainability for our shipbuilding activities.”Green Marine further expands its shipyard and U.S. East Coast membership by welcoming Blount Boats, Inc.

SCHOTTEL's Azimuth Thrusters will propel two environmentally friendly vessels for the Norwegian ferry operator Norled.The first ferry to sail on liquid hydrogen was designed by LMG Marin and is currently under construction at Westcon Yards, Norway.Sigvald Breivik, technical director at Norled: “Our goal is to create a new icon among eco-friendly ferries. Hydrogen, as a zero-emission fuel, will be the alternative energy for ferry propulsion systems in cases where longer sailing distances are required and charging batteries is not possible.

Fears about a shortage of diesel and other middle distillates stemming from new marine pollution regulations have receded, with distillate premiums falling to some of the lowest levels for two years.From the start of 2020, ocean-going ships will be required to use low-sulphur fuels or employ exhaust gas cleaning systems, known has scrubbers, under pollution control rules approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).Fuel traders and shipowners have warned for several…

Some forecasts expect 10% of the global fleet to be powered by LNG by 2030, a proportion that could rise to just under a quarter of the fleet by 2050. Will your vessels be among them?The year-end sulfur cap on marine fuels and recent industry commitments to reduce its collective carbon footprint are behind a surge of interest in LNG as fuel; widespread adoption, however, still faces strong headwinds on several fronts.After a period where the costs of transitioning to LNG as fuel – at the operational and capital expenditure (Capex) levels – had appeared to constrain demand…

The United States is taking advantage of record-low prices of one of the world's dirtiest fuels by buying record volumes, which it intends to upgrade into cleaner products before new shipping rules take effect, trading and analyst sources say.U.S. trade sources said it recently had become economical to ship fuel oil from countries such as Russia, boosting imports of the product into the United States.This comes even as prices for high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) on the U.S. Gulf Coast…

Executives at some of the world's top shipping groups are advocating a levy on carbon emissions on shipping in an effort to shape tightening rules on greenhouse gas emissions while providing a means to fund development of cleaner fuel sources."To meet international shipping's decarbonization challenge, the maritime industry needs a carbon levy, it is coming, and we should shape it," said Andreas Sohmen-Pao, chairman of BW Group at the Global Maritime Forum in Singapore this week.The…

Danish shipping conglomerate A.P. Moller - Maersk has joined forces with Wallenius Wilhelmsen, BMW Group, H&M Group, Levi Strauss and Marks & Spencer to explore LEO, a blend of lignin and ethanol, as a potential future sustainable shipping fuel.The LEO Coalition, which also includes Copenhagen University, will consider the environmental and commercial viability of LEO fuel for shipping. Shipping accounts for 2-3% of global CO2 emissions, a proportion that is set to increase as global trade continues to grow at a sluggish but steady pace. As such, this industry has an urgent need to reduce its environmental impact.The marine sector has very different fuel requirements than automotive or aviation.

U.S. sanctions on a top Chinese shipping fleet is set to produce a totally unintended result -- less burning of the dirtiest marine fuels at sea at the start of next year, Refinitiv data showed on Tuesday.The move to blacklist ships from COSCO on Sept. 24 for allegedly ferrying sanctioned Iranian oil will undercut demand for ships' traditional means of power because a vessel crunch meant fewer docked and attached kit to filter the dirtier fuels.From January 2020, the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships from using fuel with a sulphur content above 0.5%…

Top shipping, retail and transport companies are looking to develop an alternative marine fuel which aims to reduce carbon emissions from ships, in another step to push the sector to go green.International shipping accounts for 2.2% of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), more than aviation's 2% share.The IMO, a United Nations agency, has said it aims to halve greenhouse gas emissions from 2008 levels by 2050.Investor and activist pressure is prompting companies to look to speed up reducing the industry's carbon footprint.Denmark's A.P.

Belgian tanker operator Euronav expects to complete preparations on its fleet in coming weeks ahead of tougher rules next year limiting sulphur emissions from ocean-going vessels, a company executive said on Tuesday.Ship owners must cut emissions by reducing the sulphur content in fuel to 0.5% from 3.5% under the rules, which are set by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO), and come into effect in January.To comply, ship owners can use low-sulphur fuel…

Tokyo Kisen Co., Ltd. and e5 Lab Inc. have jointly developed the new concept design of “e5 Tug,” electric propulsion harbor tugboat powered by large-capacity battery and a hydrogen fuel cell.The e5 Tug is a harbor tug fully electrified and designed to minimize environmental footprint and is equipped with a propulsion system running on “e5 powertrain platform”, devised and planned by e5 Lab, which utilizes a large-capacity battery system as a main power source and a hydrogen fuel…

AMETEK Land, a provider of combustion efficiency and environmental pollutant emissions monitoring instrumentation, has launched two new continuous emission monitoring systems (PM-CEMS) to provide accurate and reliable measurement of particulate matter from industrial combustion processes in stacks and ducts.The AMETEK Land 4650-PM is an extremely stable and accurate low-range particulate matter measurement system designed for CEMS applications where condensed water is not present in the flue gas.

Offshore wind could become a cornerstone of the world's power supply as steep cost reductions and improved technology unleash the potential of the green energy source, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday.Renewables replacing fossil fuel is crucial to meet a globally-agreed goal of limiting temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius this century and the expansion of offshore wind could avoid 5-7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from the power sector globally, said the IEA.Power generated from wind turbines at sea only accounts for 0.3% of global electricity generation today…

A joint Lloyd’s Register (LR) and A.P. Moller – Maersk study assessing the transition to zero carbon fuels has found that the cost of transport will rise – not because ships themselves will require greater levels of investment but because new fuels are projected to be significantly more expensive than existing fossil solutions which will lead to increased operating costs.According to the study partners, achieving net zero is therefore an operating expense (OPEX) not a capital expenditure (CAPEX) challenge.