Fuel Oil News

Tech leaders across maritime have the unenviable task of plotting for, at best, a fuzzy future. Make no mistake, the mission is clear: emission reduction leading to decarbonization. But the means to that end – and the realistic timeframe to get there – is less than clear. Sit with Sameer Kalra, President, Marine, Alfa Laval for awhile and it becomes abundantly clear he has a firm handle on the means to make money for Alfa Laval today while funding the technologies that will power the company’s future.Sameer Kalra…

Volunteers struggled on Friday to shovel up tons of sticky oil from Russia's Black Sea coastline following what President Vladimir Putin has called an ecological disaster.The oil spilled from two ageing Russian oil tankers that were severely damaged by a weekend storm in the Kerch Strait that separates southern Russia from Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. One of the vessels split in half, and a crew member was killed, while the other ran aground.At the sea's edge, volunteers shoveled oil and blackened sand into white sacks to be taken away in trucks, as more viscous black tar drifted in on the waves."I've never seen anything like this. I can't even really imagine it.

Back in August 2024, in its blog Fact from Fiction: Methane Slip, the industry group SEA-LNG stated: “It’s human nature to have an opinion. And everyone is entitled to one. What’s potentially damaging is when emotive opinions with limited substance are heralded as fact.”This week MSC Cruises had to reconsider what it was saying about LNG.NGO Opportunity Green reports that, following a complaint it made in March 2024, the UK Advertising Standards Authority has resolved an issue regarding claims MSC Cruises was making about LNG.

Spilled oil has washed up along "tens of kilometres" of the Russian Black Sea coast after two tankers were badly damaged in a storm at the weekend, a regional official said on Tuesday, and state media said a third vessel was now in trouble.TASS news agency said the third ship, also a tanker, had issued a distress signal off the port of Kavkaz, but its hull was still intact, there was no oil spillage and the crew was safe.The first ship, the Volgoneft 212, split in half on Sunday in the Kerch Strait, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

A rush to replenish scarce supply of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) pushed Northwest European imports of residual fuel oil to their highest in three years in November, analysts told Reuters.The Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) area, Europe's main trading and refining hub, received around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of all types of fuel oil in November, the highest monthly volume since November 2021.That compared with an average of 332,000 bpd over January-October this year, according…

Sales of marine bunker fuel at Singapore retreated to a two-month low in November after soaring in October, data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed.Bunker sales at the world's biggest ship refueling hub totaled 4.46 million metric tons in November, down 8.5% month-on-month but higher by 4.6% from a year ago, the data showed.Total vessel calls for bunkering fell 4.5% from the prior month to 3,296 in November, while container throughput dipped 4.7% to 3.34…

A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm on Sunday, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage, Russian officials said.The vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, when they issued distress signals.Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to look into possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the 136-metre Volgoneft 212 tanker…

This week at MarineLink…An Australian Prime Minister once famously (infamously) said: “Life wasn’t meant to be easy.”He could have been talking about the maze of IMO and EU regulations relating to new fuels, especially the concept of well-to-wake emissions.It’s not enough to have a clean-burning engine or even an onboard carbon capture system. Well-to-take emissions, upstream and out of the control of ship operators, will have to be factored in.This week, MarineLink reported that a CMA-CGM vessel bunkered bio-LNG in Rotterdam…

Despite becoming a major developer of alternative fuels for the maritime sector, Sweden is facing limited access to the wider European market. Nils Igelström, Managing Director of GAC Sweden, discusses the need for greater clarity to prevent shipping’s energy transition stalling.Sweden is in a very strong position to support the maritime sector’s alternative fuel development. Tied closely to the country’s own goal of reaching net zero by 2045, it is investing heavily in infrastructure project to develop biofuels…

Egyptian authorities are scrambling to salvage the VSG Glory, a cargo ship that began sinking on Monday near the coral reefs off Quseir in the Red Sea Governorate after being stranded for 10 days, maritime sources told Reuters.The vessel, carrying 21 crew, 4,000 metric tons of bran, 70 tons of fuel oil and 50 tons of diesel, sustained a 60-centimeter (23.6 inch) hull breach, allowing seawater to flood its engine room. Its crew has since been rescued.Efforts to stabilize the ship have been hampered by deteriorating weather, causing the vessel to tilt further.

Alternative fuels could account for up to a fifth of A.P. Moller-Maersk's marine fuel consumption in 2030 as part of its goal to reach net zero by 2040, a senior company executive said on Thursday.The container shipping giant typically consumes between 10 and 11 million metric tons of fuel oil equivalent per year, of which 3% were alternative fuels last year, Emma Mazhari, vice president, head of energy markets, told reporters.The world's fleet moves more than 80% of global trade…

Three years after bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off Mauritius, spilling 1000 tons of a new type of marine fuel oil, Curtin University-led research has confirmed the oil is still present in an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest close to Ramsar conservation sites.Lead researcher Dr. Alan Scarlett, from Curtin’s WA Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Center in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the chemical ‘fingerprint’ of the oil found in…

Port authorities in Singapore and Rotterdam said they have not received reports of vessels experiencing problems related to the use of cashew nutshell liquid biofuel - an issue highlighted by fuel testing agency CTI-Maritec last week.Several ships using the two ports reported operational problems in recent months after using marine fuel blended with cashew nutshell liquid, the Singapore-based agency said on Thursday, adding that the cashew nutshell liquid had come from undeclared source materials or production processes.The operational problems included fuel sludging…

Several ships in Singapore and Rotterdam reported operational problems in recent months after using marine fuel blended with cashew nutshell liquid biofuel, fuel testing agency CTI-Maritec said in an advisory on Thursday.Singapore-based CTI-Maritec said it tested samples from the affected ships and found the marine fuel was blended with cashew nutshell liquid that came from undeclared source materials or production processes.The ships had reported operational problems including fuel sludging…

Container shipping companies like Maersk, CMA CGM and COSCO have ordered hundreds of new vessels in recent years meant to help their industry slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet rising demand from customers and regulators around the globe.Their order books, however, reflect uncertainty over which of a wide array of so-called green fuels will become the standard in the decades to come, and whether supplies will be cheap and abundant enough to keep their fleets in motion.Decarbonizing…

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has launched the Trans Harmony Emerald, the second of two LNG-powered roros under construction for Toyofuji Shipping.The ship's handover is scheduled for June 2025 following completion of outfitting work and sea trials. The Trans Harmony Emerald will then serve on shipping routes in Asia.The vessel is approximately 195 meters in overall length, approximately 30.6 meters in breadth, and has gross tonnage of approximately 49,500. It can transport about 3…

MarineNews Editor Joseph Keefe weighs in with a look at the previous five years on the waterfront. It’s not what you think.You might be aware that I stepped away for a moment in late December 2019. The five years that followed, whizzed right by – well, all but that miserable part of being virtually locked in my house for six months during “the Pandemic.” Enough said. Now back in the Editor’s chair here at MarineNews magazine, it is apparent that while some things on the collective waterfront have changed…

Seventy-five years in business is no small feat, especially in an industry that is tougher than most: shipbuilding. Blount Boats is celebrating the impressive milestone this year.Established in 1949, the Warren, R.I. shipbuilder is led today by founder Luther H. Blount’s daughters: president and CFO Marcia Blount and executive vice president / human resources Julie Blount, who see their roles as more than a career. “It’s our vocation,” Julie said. “It’s in our blood!” the sisters said nearly simultaneously.An entrepreneur and inventor by nature, Luther H.

Marine fuel trading house KPI OceanConnect is looking to offer biofuel for bunkering at more ports, in view of higher demand as FuelEU regulations kick in next year, a senior executive said on the sidelines of SIBCON 2024 this week.The company is expanding its marine biofuel trade to 120 ports, up from about 70 ports previously, said Jesper Sorensen, global head of alternative fuels and carbon markets.The company has delivered more than 300 biofuel stems to over 80 clients to date, according to Sorensen."The most developed region is Europe where biofuels are available.

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee MEPC 82 met from 30 September to 4 October 2024 and discussed a range of environmental matters, including proposed mid-term measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, enhancing energy efficiency of shipping, tackling marine litter, ballast water management and underwater noise reduction.Tackling climate change - cutting GHG emissions from shipsThe Committee made progress on the development of mid-term…

Ongoing concerns around fuel quality continue to be a critical factor and significant expense for the maritime industry, according to the Lloyd’s Register (LR) Fuel Quality Report 2024.The report, produced by LR’s Fuel Oil Bunker Analysis and Advisory Service (FOBAS), reveals the overall state of fuel quality in 2024 remains much like that of the past few years, particularly since the transition to predominantly very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) in 2020. Persistent issues such as cat-fines…

Singapore's largest bunker fuel supplier Equatorial Marine Fuel is expanding its tanker fleet, a company executive told Reuters this week, adding it will receive its first IMO type 2 chemical bunker tanker before the end of 2024 and three more in 2025.These four tankers will add to the company's existing fleet of 20 conventional bunker tankers, said Choong Sheen Mao, chief operating officer at Equatorial Marine Fuel.Choong said half of Equatorial's current fleet is currently delivering…

Speed will be of the essence as salvage crews attempt to stop fuel leaking from the sunken New Zealand naval ship off the coast of Samoa.The HMNZS Manawanui ran aground last weekend on a reef about one nautical mile off the south coast of Upolu, Samoa’s most populated island. The specialist dive and hydrographic vessel was on its third deployment, conducting a reef survey, when it caught fire and sank.The ship has come to rest at a depth of up to 150 metres, which means it may be relatively undisturbed even during storms.