Tag: HFO

  Royal Wagenborg, the Dutch ship owner and operator, has ordered Wärtsilä scrubber systems to clean the exhaust emissions from two of its RoRo carriers, the ‘Balticborg’ and ‘Bothniaborg’. These will be Wärtsilä’s first deliveries of its scrubber systems to Royal Wagenborg. The contract was signed in March. “We have enjoyed a successful business relationship with Wärtsilä for many years and have selected Wärtsilä solutions for many vessels in our fleet. This relationship was one of the reasons that we decided that Wärtsilä would be the supplier for these scrubber systems,” according to Egbert Vuursteen, CEO of Royal Wagenborg. By installing Wärtsilä scrubber systems, the vessels will comply with the regulations covering emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) while using conventional residual marine fuel (HFO). The Balticborg and Bothniaborg are employed on a long term freight contract with Smurfit Kappa for the weekly shipment of paper products between Haraholmen, Bremen, Sheerness and Terneuzen. These operating routes fall within the Baltic and North Seas’ Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA). The retrofitting of these systems will take place in the autumn of this year. The systems chosen for these vessels are Wärtsilä Hybrid Scrubbers, which enable the use of either closed or open ...

  Transport Canada issued a Ship Safety Bulletin to advise stakeholders of the potential consequences of: fuel change-over between residual fuel commonly known as Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO); and the change-over requirements under MARPOL Annex VI and the Vessel Pollution and Dangerous Chemicals Regulations (the Regulations). During combustion, sulphur oxides form from the sulphur in the vessel’s fuel. This is why we now control the sulphur content in fuel. For vessels using emission control technology, the controls use an equivalent sulphur dioxide to carbon dioxide ratio. The Regulations set air emission standards, including sulphur content limits in marine fuel, within the North American Emission Control Area (NA-ECA). These Regulations can be accessed through the Laws of Canada website managed by the Department of Justice Canada. Transport Canada will enforce these Regulations as set out in the Policy on Compliance and Enforcement of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001- TP 13585. Main engines, auxiliary engines and boilers switching over to low sulphur fuels will create many challenges to vessels operating in the NA-ECA. As of January 1st, 2015, all vessels operating in the NA-ECA must use fuel that does not exceed 0.10% sulphur content. Most marine diesel ...

  The Wärtsilä 50DF marine engine has been successfully tested and certified to run on ethane (LEG) fuel. The extensive and successful testing programme was carried out by Wärtsilä in close collaboration with Evergas, a world renowned owner and operator of seaborne petrochemical and liquid gas transport vessels.  “We are very pleased that the Wärtsilä engines will be capable of utilising ethane boil-off gas as fuel. It increases our operational efficiency and improves flexibility in the bunkering of fuels. All in all it results in a significant reduction in operating costs, while also providing a minimal environmental footprint. It also enables us to offer our customers increased flexibility, which has a monetary value to them,” says Mr Steffen Jacobsen, the CEO of Evergas. The capability to efficiently burn ethane boil-off gas as engine fuel significantly reduces the need of gas re-liquefaction during the voyage. This means that less power is needed for the cargo handling, thus providing a more efficient and environmentally sound overall system. This technological breakthrough enables Wärtsilä´s customers to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Tier III regulations without need of secondary emissions cleaning while using either LNG or LEG as fuel.  The engines have the capability ...

  Latest bcg.perspectives by The Boston Consulting Group include an analysis on how the shipowner  may decide which marine fuel option will provide the highest return in the coming years and how they will comply with the increasingly stringent rules and regulations imposed by regulators. According to the analysis, shipping companies need to decide when to invest in switching to liquefied natural gas or other environmentally friendlier fuel options. Uncertainty about the effective date of a global cap on sulfur emissions has added to the complexity. The choice among fuel options is not clear-cut, as each one has benefits and drawbacks. To help shipping companies navigate through the challenging investment decisions, BCG has developed a proprietary tool that evaluates the business case for each fuel option over the next 15 years. If their investments to comply with emissions regulations are well designed and executed, companies can expect a net positive return. The answers to a set of strategic questions can help companies identify which option is the best fit: Do you know the business case for investments in each fuel option for your fleet, as segmented by vessel type, vessel size, and route? What percentage of your fleet operates exclusively ...

  The Standard P&IClub issued an article outlining club's considerations regarding LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) as a marine fuel. Compared to road transportation, inland shipping has been considered to have a lower carbon footprint. Since January 2011, EU regulations have required low sulphur fuel for inland shipping, but the next raft of regulations is for emission reductions for nitrous oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). As an interim step towards zero emission fuels, LNG has come out as a valuable solution. Coupled with investment for LNG bunkering infrastructure in North Europe, it is becoming more commercially and economically viable and the first LNG inland ships have started operating. LNG powered ships is not new technology. The LNG tanker fleet has used boil off gas since the 1980’s. LNG tankers have a good safety record and are designed and operated within established IMO regulations and recommendations: IGC – Safe Carriage by Sea of Bulk Liquefied Gasses; Resolution MSC 285(86) Interim Guidelines on Safety for Natural Gas-Fuelled Engine Installations in Ships (2009); and the recently accepted draft “International Code for Ships using Gas or other Low Flash-point Fuels” (IGF Code) Rules and regulations For ships operating on the European inland waterways, mostly the ...

DNV GL issued a technical update to publication “Sulphur Limits 2015” regarding the introduction of new “hybrid” fuel types, which may not be fully compatible with ordinary heavy fuel oils, can pose potential technical challenges in operation in connection with the changeover. For ships passing through or operating in Emission Control Areas (ECAs), new and stricter emission regulations came into force on 1 January 2015. As regulated by MARPOL Annex VI, the maximum sulphur content of any fuel used on board may not exceed 0.10% m/m S when sailing or operating in an ECA designated for control of SOx emissions from ships. Alternatively, the installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems, proven to be least effective in terms of emission reductions, is seen as an equivalent measure. However, switching from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to low-sulphur fuel is likely to pose challenges. If not handled with care, the changeover process can cause operational problems in the ship’s propulsion chain and put equipment at risk. The DNV GL publication “Sulphur Limits 2015 – Guidelines to ensure Compliance”, issued in November 2014, provides an overview of the regulatory background and describes potential difficulties associated with fuel changeover. DNV GL has also developed and made available ...

  Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) announced the results of a study it says shows that "scrubbers are no solution to air pollution from ships." The recent tightening of the fuel sulphur limits for fuel used in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) requires the use of fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 0.1% in these regions, or a technology that can reduce emissions to an equivalent level, from January, 1st 2015. Most low sulphur fuels are distillates (e.g. marine gasoil MGO, which are more expensive than the residual fuels that are traditionally used by ships (e.g. heavy fuel oil HFO)). Exhaust gas scrubbers, in combination with the use of HFO, have been accepted as an alternative means to lower sulphur emissions. Four different types of scrubbers are available today: Seawater scrubbers (open loop) utilize untreated seawater, using the natural alkalinity of the seawater to neutralize the sulphur from exhaust gases. Freshwater scrubbers (closed loop) are not dependent on the type of the water the vessel is operating in, because the exhaust gases are neutralized with caustic soda, which is added to freshwater in a closed system. Hybrid scrubbers give the possibility to either use closed loop or ...

  From 1 January 2015, MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14.4 entered into full effect. This regulation refers to new and stricter requirements on the maximum sulphur content of fuels used by cargo vessels in Emission Control Areas (ECA). More precisely, in the ECA it is not permitted to use fuel which contains a sulphur percentage over 0.1%. The only fuel type that currently offers such a low sulphur percentage is Marine Gas Oil (MGO) whereas most vessels normally use the somewhat cheaper Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO).  In order to comply with the new sulphur emission regulations, Clipper decided to convert one HFO tank on six of our 30,000 dwt Trader-type bulk carriers into MGO tanks. The conversion reduces unnecessary costs of frequent bunker operations and delays. Simultaneously, it makes the vessels more sustainable and environmentally friendly, and thereby compliant with current legislation. As an extra benefit, the physical separation of piping makes it very unlikely to mix the two fuel grades by mistake. One of the converted vessels is Clipper Tarpon. Before the conversion, her MGO tank capacity was 143.4 m3. After the conversion she could contain an impressive 564.4 m3. This improvement allows the vessel to sail for a ...

ExxonMobil is expanding its range of specialist fuels for use within Emission Control Areas (ECA) with the introduction of ExxonMobil Premium Advanced Fuel Marine ECA 200 (AFME 200). ExxonMobil Premium AFME 200 joins ExxonMobil Premium HDME 50 as part of a new category of marine fuel that has emerged as a result of the 2015 ECA sulphur limit of 0.10 percent. These low sulphur fuels help engineers safely and efficiently operate their main and auxiliary engines and boilers. ExxonMobil Premium AFME 200 is an advanced fuel oil formulated using a proprietary refining process that removes sulphur, metals and other contaminants. This enables the fuel to comply with the ECA sulphur cap and also helps to optimise the performance of engines and extend component life. The viscosity of ExxonMobil Premium AFME 200 is comparable to heavy fuel oils (HFOs) enabling similar storage and handling practices for both fuels on board marine vessels. Both fuels require preheating, therefore reducing the risk of thermal shock to engine components during switchovers to comply with the ECA sulphur cap. Thermal shock may result in fuel pump seizures and engine shutdowns and has the potential to occur when switching from heated HFO to marine gas oil ...

Wärtsilä and Clean Marine Energy announced the landmark signing of the shipping industry’s first collaboration agreement that will provide a convenient funding solution to drive the uptake of exhaust gas cleaning technology. The move is intended to ease the financial burden on ship owners seeking to install scrubber systems in order to meet sulphur emissions legislation. The financing solution, similar to those prevalent and proven in the building environment space, enables a ship owner to repay the cost of the scrubber system installation via a fuel adder, i.e. a fuel premium on the price of HFO by which the ship owner repays the cost of installing the scrubber. This provides a return from the differential between Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and Marine Gasoil (MGO) for a period of four to six years, depending on price spreads. This means that ship owners do not have the burden of meeting the up-front capital expenditure, which is typically between USD 3 million and USD 12 million per vessel. This investment is often difficult to pass on to charterers, whereas with CME financing, the fuel adder charge can be easily passed on until such time as the scrubber system is paid for. The concept ...