Tag: SOx

  The Finnish electric drive train specialist VISEDO has been selected as the sole electric-system supplier for the world's largest fully electric ferryboat to be built by the Danish shipbuilder Søby Shipyard Ltd. The ferry will be introduced in June, 2017 to transportation of vehicles and passengers between the island Ærø and the mainland in Denmark. The Finnish ground-breaking innovative electric drive specialist was preferred over the industry giant Siemens which was the previous candidate for the delivery. As one of the Top 5 projects in the EU Horizon 2020 initiative, a program with a total budget of 21 million euros, this initiative is part of the Danish Natura project, which guarantees local people green transportation in these areas. The ferry will be a state-of-the-art design and will achieve efficiency gains by optimizing weight by integrating lighter materials and equipment. It will reduce the CO2 emission by 2000 tons and NOx emissions by 41,500 kg per year. The silent electric propulsion system from Visedo will also reduce the emitted noise level compared to diesel engine operation. In addition, the vessel will reduce wake waves right behind the ferry by 60-70% and it will be able to navigate in the EU ...

  Kai Låtun, VP Sales & Marketing, Yara Marine Technologies AS presentation during the 2015 GREEN4SEA Forum. In the presentation “SOx Scrubbers – a profitable investment ?”, Mr Latun looks at under which conditions the profitability of a scrubber investment should be evaluated. He gives some concrete examples of scrubber installations onboard vessels, and illustrates how to calculate paybacktime for a scrubber investment based on realtime conditions. He also reviews the costs of alternative consumables needed during scrubber operations. Yara Marine Technology, used to be known as Green Tech Marine, founded in 2010. Yara Marine Technology has supplied scrubbers since 2012 so it has tens of thousands of operating hours on scrubbers and experience on it. It is also now part of the Yara Group, which is a large Norwegian cooperation with turn over around $15,000,000,000/year and about 10,000 employees.  First of all I would like to say that I’m very happy about the presentation from Lloyds before, because he showed you a chart with green, yellow and red lines, when does it pay to have a scrubber. And being a scrubber supplier, we have very often come across this question. So, we have simply developed a calculator, where you can put ...

  The government of Hong Kong has released the administration’s paper on “Provision of on-shore power supply at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal” to the LegCo. Clean Air Network (CAN) stated its disappointment that the authorities has decided to shelve the installation of onshore power supply for Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. According to the 2012 Emission Inventory for Hong Kong published by the Environmental Protection Department, ocean going ships became the number one source of respirable suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide in Hong Kong. Cruise ships accounted for 2.4% of SO2, 0.9% of NOX and 1.5% of PM respectively. As estimated by Hedley Environmental Index, in 2014, air pollution caused 2,616 premature deaths and 32.657 billion in lost dollars. Thus, we can calculate that by installing onshore power supply, the death number could be reduced by 42 and 523 million could be gained annually Clean Air Network CEO Sum Yin Kwong says, “The government tends to calculate cost benefits without considering external social costs. Comparing similar community projects such as spending 600 million for a gymnasium, the building of onshore power facilities is certainly worthwhile in order to protect public health.” In the paper, it is estimated that the growth ...

  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 ...

Image Credit: DNV GL - Maritime Update Issue 01-15, page 53 (Click to enlarge picture)  The challenges for the shipping industry are not getting any easier. New emission limits, while not coming unexpectedly, require substantial investments in technology; and time is running out. A look at the available options The shipping industry has been going through turbulent times. For a sector accustomed to planning decades ahead, the sequence of unexpected major events, from the financial crisis to depressed freight and charter rates, and from dropping fossil fuel prices to new international tensions, has certainly added plenty of headache to investment decisions. Many shipowners delayed investing in new anti-pollution technology hoping for a clearer field of vision, while others took action early to gain competitive advantage. With new sulphur limits now in force for European Emission Control Areas (ECAs), and the North American and US Caribbean Sea ECAs also regulating NOX and PM, those who chose to wait must act now. Further regulations will take effect soon, and additional regional and national regimes are emerging around the globe (refer to info box). Investing now will save shipowners money and protect their reputation. However, the substantial capital requirement, a lack of mature technology and uncertainty regarding compliance documentation add to the complexity of this decision. The IMO’s new ECA regulations, in effect for Northern Europe and ...

  A wide-scale industry project ‘RETROFIT’, which aimed to determine efficient methods and tools for retrofitting existing ships with green technologies, has drawn to a close after three years. The RETROFIT consortium was created by 14 partners, including ship operators, system suppliers, shipyards, engineering companies and knowledge institutes, from seven different countries. Imtech Marine was one of the initiators of the project, which was funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme. René Nuijten, Imtech Marine consultant, explains that the research group wanted to examine the application of green technologies such as using LNG fuel and scrubbers in an existing vessel and through simulation models review and benchmark them against existing applications. The overall results show that fuel savings up to 5% can realistically be achieved. A RoRo ferry built by NAVANTIA Astillero San Fernando-Puerto Real, and owned and operated by Acciona Trasmediterranea on the Cádiz-Canary Islands route was chosen as a test case vessel. Built in 2010, the 31,000gt ferry has a diesel mechanical twin-screw controllable pitch propeller and is designed for 26 knots, though its actual operational speed is 19.6 knots. Optimal trimming Imtech Marine and Wärtsilä worked closely together during the project. Several different configurations ...

  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 ...

Damen Shipyards Group launched the first LNG-powered Damen EcoLiner inland shipping tanker at its Romanian yard. The EcoLiner is developed to deliver much-needed fuel economy for inland shipping operators while at the same time cutting emissions. The EcoLiner design combines conventional, proven engineering with sustainable innovations, including the world’s first installations of the ACES Air-Lubricated Hull, a gas-electrical shaft propulsion system and one of the first Van der Velden FLEX Tunnel installations. The pioneering vessel dramatically reduces fuel costs by up to 25%. The European Union, following its ambitious goal towards greening the transport sector, co-finances this project from the Trans-European Transport Network Programme with more than €1.1 million as part of the project “LNG Masterplan for Rhine-Main-Danube”. Damen recently completed comprehensive tank testing of the new design at research institute MARIN, which confirmed the EcoLiner’s efficiency. Simon Provoost, Product Director Inland Waterway Transport at Damen Shipyards, says testing how the design combined multiple innovations was very important so that Damen could offer the 3,040 m3 capacity EcoLiner to the market with utmost confidence. “After successfully testing at MARIN, we can now complete the build in the Netherlands and we’re talking with a number of interested parties. Fuel accounts for ...

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 ...

Dr Pierre C. Sames from DNV GL introduced the Vessels for the Future initiative at the European Shipping Week in Brussels Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, both maritime and inland waterways will be under ever increasing pressure, as we use them for transport, recreation and commercially. At European Shipping week (ESW), Dr Pierre C. Sames, Chairman of the European Research Association and Director of Maritime Technology, Research and Development at classification society DNV GL, introduced a new initiative - Vessels for the Future - which aims to improve shipping's safety record, sustainability and global competitiveness. Launched in November 2014, over 50 companies, research institutes, academic organizations and interested associations have already signed up to take part in the initiative to work towards a more sustainable European transport system. "Aiming at a private public partnership is important not only as it allows us to have a coordinated research, development and implementation (RDI) programme which covers both vessels and waterborne operations, but it demonstrates a clear commitment from all stakeholders to meet the ambitious goals of the initiative," said Dr Sames. The initiative focuses on the three key areas for the maritime transport cluster: safe and efficient waterborne transport and competitiveness ...