Low Sulfur News

The maritime industry’s elusive quest to achieve so-called ‘zero’ emissions continues. Where it ends is not a one-size-fits-all discussion.The year-end maritime industry discussions tend to move away from global influence and back drift to national and domestic debates. As this happens, a positioning of a relatively small group of American owners and operators prepare for the upcoming business year and markets. The propulsion debate continues to be future fuels based upon sustainability and climate change.

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…

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…

Sales of marine fuel at Singapore rose to a nine-month high in October, led by an increase in container throughput and vessel calls for bunkering, data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore showed on Thursday.Bunker sales at the world's largest vessel refueling hub totaled 4.88 million metric tons in October, up 11% both month-on-month and year-on-year, the data showed.Total vessel calls for bunkering rose 5.7% from September to 3,452 in October, while container throughput firmed 6.5% to 3.51 million TEUs.Volumes for the mainstay low-sulfur fuel grade totaled 2.51 million tons in Octob

Staten Island Ferry and NYC Ferry will begin testing renewable diesel fuel as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional diesel. This initiative is expected to slash carbon emissions by 60% or more, providing nearly 30 million annual riders with a cleaner way to traverse the city's waterways.The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) is currently testing renewable diesel on the Marchi Staten Island Ferry, which will replace the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel now used in the fleet.

TotalEnergies has supplied its first B100 biofuel bunker in Singapore, marking an expansion in its low-carbon fuels offer in an effort to support the decarbonization goals of global shipping.On August 5, TotalEnergies Marine Fuels used an IMO Type II chemical bunker tanker, MAPLE, owned by Global Energy Group, to transfer 700 metric tons (mt) of the 100% Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester (UCOME-based) biofuel to a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), Glovis Cosmos, which is owned by Hyundai Glovis.The UCOME biodiesel supplied is a second-generation…

The lead ship of Höegh Autoliners' Aurora class, Höegh Aurora, was delivered at a naming ceremony at China Merchants Heavy Industry’s (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China, on Tuesday.The newbuild is the first of 12 Aurora Class vessels being built by CMHI. Featuring 14 decks—including five liftable decks—the ship can carry up to 9,100 CEU, making it the world's largest pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessel. With enhanced decks and ramps, the vessel is designed to carry electric vehicles on all decks…

Crowley on Wednesday announced it has taken delivery of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge Progress, the largest U.S. Jones Act-compliant vessel of its kind, after construction was completed at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.The Progress will expand access to cleaner energy for ship operators at the Port of Savannah, Georgia, upon final commissioning there this month. Shell NA LNG, LLC, (Shell) signed a long-term agreement with Crowley to operate the barge…

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has successfully completed its final supply chain trial for biofuel blended with very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO).This marks the end of a series of trials initiated in July 2022 as part of a larger pilot to develop a framework to provide quality, quantity and GHG abatement assurances for drop-in fuels.In this final trial, bp provided the B30 biofuel blend to the TIHAMA, a 19,870 TEU container vessel operated by Hapag-Lloyd.The…

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has teamed up with NYK Line to launch Project LOTUS (long-term impact of continuous use of biofuels on vessel operations).This six-month project will trial the continuous use of a biofuels blend comprising of 24% Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) and very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) onboard a short-sea vehicle carrier that will call at multiple ports. The use of a vessel plying short-sea routes will allow regular access to fuels stored onboard for sampling and testing during frequent port calls.FAME…

Yang Ming Marine Transport is adopting sustainable biofuel for its fleet, starting at Hong Kong and Singapore, and will now incorporate biofuel into its annual fuel consumption on an on-going basis.The adoption of biofuel began with Yang Ming’s 1,805 TEU class container ship, YM Inception, and 6,600 TEU class container ship, YM Masculinity. These vessels are currently deployed on the Japan to/from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand service and the Far East to/from Middle East service…

French container shipping group CMA CGM has taken delivery of the CMA CGM Mermaid, the first ship in a series of 10 new 2,000 TEU containerships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which will be progressively deployed in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.CMA CGM Mermaid containership is the result of collaboration between CMA CGM, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, and Hyundai Heavy Industries.The delivery is part of CMA CGM's fleet renewal program, in which the group invested more than $15 billion…

The world's largest cruise ship is set for its maiden voyage on Saturday, but environmental groups are concerned that the liquefied natural gas-powered vessel - and other giant cruise liners to follow - will leak harmful methane into the atmosphere.Royal Caribbean International's Icon of the Seas sets sail from Miami with capacity for 8,000 passengers across 20 decks, taking advantage of the surging popularity of cruises.The ship is built to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns more cleanly than traditional marine fuel but poses greater risks for methane emissions.

Chevron Marine Products said Tuesday that four-stroke engine operators could benefit from its new lubricating oil's versatility.HDAX 9700 was created to provide a solution for engines that run on multiple liquid and gaseous fuels and applications that require a low-sulfated ash lubricant, Chevron said.According to the company, the HDAX 9700t is also suitable for dual-fuel marine engines, as HDAX 9700 has successfully completed more than 20.000 hours of testing on a Wärtsilä dual-fuel power plant.“HDAX 9700 brings many benefits for operators of four-stroke engines.

In 2019, Oldendorff Carriers signed a research agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Center for Bits and Atoms to investigate disruptive improvements in ship design, propulsion, and alternative energy sources to help achieve the enhanced decarbonization targets to 2050. As part of their agreement, Oldendorff Carriers asked MIT to conduct a study on the long-term stability and degradation of a B20 advanced biofuel blend.Biofuels offer a drop-in fuel option, reducing GHG emissions from a life-cycle perspective.

The transportation of CO2 is taking to the seas as emitters look for flexible ways to move captured carbon to offshore storage projects, with a fleet of 55 carriers required by 2030, according to Rystad Energy research.Based on planned carbon capture projects, Rystad predicts that more than 90 million tonnes per annum (tpa) of CO2 will be shipped by the end of the decade, volumes requiring 48 terminals to handle the import and export of the gas.As the global carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) market expands…

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) found carbon emissions fell 83% using a vegetable oil biofuel blend compared with marine gasoil in a trial for a dual-fuel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier, the center said on Tuesday.This was the third of five supply chain bunkering trials that the GCMD has undertaken as part of an $18 million project to test different biofuel blends to reduce carbon emissions. The trials are key to helping the fuel and shipping industries…

Flag and port state control authorities will need new tools to monitor compliance within the next wave of Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) if compliance is to meet minimum standards, according to emissions management start-up SeaARCTOS.“There is a risk that as the industry focuses on carbon, that sulfur emissions fall into the background, but they continue to present a serious public health risk and a compliance challenge,” says Michael Kougellis, SeaARCTOS CEO. “Growth in the ECA network means that demand for emissions monitoring and compliance management will continue to increase…

U.S. and Canadian refiners have turned to North Sea "Forties" crude oil for the first time in seven years in the latest sign of changing global oil flows from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 2.6 million barrels of the crude are set to arrive at U.S. East Coast ports since February, according to Customs data on Refinitiv Eikon. Some of the oil is likely headed to Canada via pipeline. The light, low-sulfur Forties crudes are blended with others to replace Russian crudes that have been barred from the U.S. and Canada. Prior to the ban, about 50% of all crude from Russian ports that landed in the U.S. went to East Coast refineries, the customs data showed. The tanker Sea Turtle in February discharged 770,000 barrels of Forties and Forties blend crudes in Maine, destined for Suncor Energy.

Contaminated marine fuels from several suppliers led to fouled engines on about a dozen vessels operating from the U.S. Gulf Coast this spring, according to Lloyd's Register and marine fuel testing service VPS.The tainted fuel was the first major occurrence along the U.S.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shipping company Dorian LPG announced it has taken delivery of the newly built very large gas carrier (VLGC) Captain Markos from Japanese shipbuilder Kawasaki Heavy Industries.The 84,000 cubic meter capacity VLGC is a dual-fuel vessel capable of running on on LPG and low-sulfur fuel oil.The ship  is owned by a Japanese owner will be operated by Dorian LPG under a 13-year bareboat charter, trading in the Helios LPG Pool which Dorian LPG jointly operates with Phoenix Tankers Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd.

Spanish engineering and technology group Sener said Thursday it had completed the conceptual design of a new sustainable biofuel tanker aimed at supplying biofuels during bunkering operations, that is also capable of capturing CO2 from other vessels.The vessel would be able to carry heavy fuel oil (HFO), very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), biofuels and marine gas oils (MGO), and also store the captured CO2 from nearby vessels."The new vessel has been designed to operate in compliance with the energy efficiency and emission reduction requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

International trade by sea has long been a key part of the world economy and approximately 90% of traded commodities is reliant on shipping. Once wind-propelled in the days of sail, the current generation of ships now heavily rely on fossil fuels. Fossil fuel propulsion contributes to global warming with carbon emissions approximating 940 MtCO2e per year and also has health implications for communities surrounding ports through the release of air pollutants. The environmental impact of fossil-fuelled engines is further compounded by their use in port infrastructure…