News Headlines
LNG supplier Bomin Linde LNG has secured the largest LNG bunker supply vessel of its kind to date with a capacity of 7,500 cubic meters (two million gallons). Commissioning of the vessel is scheduled for late 2018, and Bomin Linde LNG will be using it to supply marine customers and small-scale LNG terminals along the Baltic Sea coast.
JAX LNG has announced that it has completed the engineering and procurement contracts required to begin construction of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and storage facility in Jacksonville, Fla.
Bimco has raised serious concerns about an IMO study into the availability of low sulphur fuels ahead of a key vote on the legislation. The IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) is due to vote later this month on the implementation date of the 0.5% global sulphur cap. But the shipowners association says the IMO study has failed to fully address the IMO’s terms of reference in several critical areas.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has led national shipowner associations in calling on the IMO to develop a timeline against which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping can be reduced.
The ICS says the IMO should set a GHG reduction a guideline similar to the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) devised by national governments under the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Seven years ago, the United Nations’ agency tasked with preventing pollution caused by the shipping industry declared its intention to put a global cap on poisonous emissions by limiting the amount of sulfur to be allowed in marine fuels. The time has come for the IMO to lead the industry forward, as it meets this month to vote on a date to enforce its cap.
Shell loads first LNG vessel, using new LNG fuel infrastructure at Gate terminal. The new LNG fuel infrastructure included the construction of a new berth. This new berth has now started operations. The loading of Shell’s chartered LNG vessel, the Coral Methane happened on September 19th.
The state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC), and ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. have executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture company (JV) to market liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Alaska LNG project.
Titan LNG, a supplier of LNG to the marine and industrial markets in North West Europe, has developed an LNG bunkering pontoon designed to fuel both sea-going and river barges in ports in the ARA (Amsterdam – Rotterdam – Antwerp) region, Europe’s largest bunkering hub.
Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft, Germany’s largest port operator on the Baltic Sea that runs the public ports of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, and Lübeck Port Authority signed a letter of intent with Russia’s LNG Gorskaya to set up LNG bunkering facilities.
Statoil is to supply LNG to small capacity LNG terminals in the Baltic Sea through Lithuania's Klaipeda LNG terminal, a Statoil official said on Thursday, after the Norwegian company signed an LNG deal with subsidiaries of Lithuanian state-owned energy group Lietuvos Energija.
Finland’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Pori on the west coast was officially opened, says Gasum. Deliveries of LNG to customers began on the same day, the company said in its statement.
Next year German owner Wessels Reederei will become the first company to convert a containership to use LNG as a fuel. The 1,036 teu Wes Amelie will be converted in a project that is sponsored by the German ministry of transport. The news was broken at the SMM fair in Hamburg this week. Partners in the project include MAN Diesel & Turbo, TGE Marine Gas Engineering, SMB Naval Architects & Consultants and Bureau Veritas.
More guidance on LNG bunkering will be available to the industry next month. The Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) was established to promote safety and industry best practice in the use of gas as a marine fuel, and after consultation with the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), it is about to publish an update to its global bunkering guidelines.
LNG bunkering partners ENGIE, Mitsubishi Corp and NYK Line have renamed themselves GAS4SEA as they attempt to step up their global marketing campaign promoting the use of LNG as a marine fuel. The partners have one 5,000-cbm LNG bunkering vessel due to be delivered from Hanjin Heavy Industries later this year which will be deployed in the port of Zeebrugge and they want to use it as launch pad for similar business around the globe.
Whilst LNG has proven to be a viable option as a bunkering fuel for ships, there are still challenges to the pace of its development and demand for LNG as a fuel. One of the obstacles to the accelerated uptake is the uncertainty regarding its availability. DNV GL is undertaking a new study on the LNG market in the EU as part of its efforts to drive the development of an EU-wide network of LNG refuelling points. The company has also developed a new tool and guidelines to facilitate wider adoption.
Bureau Veritas has classed the first LNG-fuelled newbuilding oil/chemical tanker, the 15,000 dwt Ternsund, built under BV class at Avic Dingheng, China and delivered to Denmark’s Terntank Rederi at the end of June 2016. The new vessel is the result of close co-operation between Terntank, Avic and Bureau Veritas.
Disney looks set to join the ranks of big-name operators looking to run their upcoming newbuildings on gas
From the very beginning, the Viking Grace – delivered in January 2013 – was an environmental milestone. The vessel attracted global attention as an environmental pioneer by being the first large passenger vessel to run on LNG. Now, three and a half years later, one thousand bunkerings have been performed in partnership with the Swedish company AGA Gas AB.
Not even a week after being christened in a Philadelphia shipyard where it was built, the 600-foot fuel tanker MT West Virginia was on display at JaxPort’s cruise terminal this week as the latest vessel to join Crowley Maritime Inc.
Three months after announcing the biggest annual loss in the company’s history for 2015 due to its diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen in July unveiled unexpectedly high profits for the first half of this year, fuelled by sales of VW cars in China.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has developed a ship fuel tank that can store up to five times more liquefied natural gas than the existing model.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has reportedly developed an LNG storage tank for liquefied natural gas-fueled vessels with a capacity five times larger than that of the existing model.
CSIC-affiliated Qingdao Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry has signed shipbuilding contracts with Shenzhen Biaodian Investment for the construction of 11 LNG bunkering barges. The total value of the contracts is around RMB370m ($55.6m).
Jamaica’s energy company, JPS, has announced the arrival of natural gas to Jamaica. Supplied by New Fortress Energy, the first shipment arrived at the port of Kingston aboard the Golar Arctic. The introduction of gas represents a historic milestone for Jamaica, as the nation pursues energy diversification and the expansion of its energy sector.
The new product tanker of the Swedish shipping company Terntank received the first Rotterdam ‘LNG bunkering incentive’, a premium amounting to a discount of ten percent on the seaport dues.
Crowley Maritime Corp.’s liquefied natural gas services group has been awarded a multi-year contract to supply containerized LNG from the U.S. mainland to Molinos de Puerto Rico, the Caribbean arm of Ardent Mills LLC, the territory’s leading supplier of flour as well as wheat, corn and rice-based food ingredients.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance moved forward on LNG bunkering Tuesday, granting an approval for easements for a new liquefaction plant and terminal in the Port of Tacoma.
The LNG facility's developer, utility company Puget Sound Energy, had asked for easements for a pipeline from its proposed plant to the Blair Waterway, plus an easement for a loading dock on the waterway to provide bunkers to LNG-fueled vessels – principally TOTE Maritime Alaska's two Orca-class ships, which will be converted to run on liquefied natural gas.
Oslo-listed Stolt-Nielsen has decided to award the construction of two (with options for further two) LNG tankers with 7,500 cu m capacity to the Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine, sources close to the deal tell Splash.
The Port of Rotterdam is to carry out its first LNG bunkering operation next week, according to a statement from the company on August 3. The vessel to be fueled will be the Ternsund, a dual-fuel product tanker belonging to Swedish shipping line Terntank.
"We are glad to introduce to you the LNG USA Summit held in February 23-24, Houston! The exclusive event will unite top industry and research professionals, service providers and policy makers! Do not miss the most exciting LNG USA event of the year!" Via LinkedIn from: Edith Stone, Marketing Executive at Business Dynamics Events
South Korean shipbuilders and energy firms have joined hands to establish an association dedicated to develop appropriate infrastructure for the LNG bunkering in the country.
A boom in shipping is aggravating air pollution in China and other nations in East Asia, causing thousands of deaths a year in a region with eight of the world's 10 biggest container ports, scientists said on Monday.
Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival), DNV GL, ENGIE,ENN Group (ENN), General Electric (GE),Gaztransport & Technigaz S.A. (GTT), Lloyd's Register (LR), Mitsubishi Corporation(Mitsubishi), NYK Line, Port of Rotterdam,Qatargas, Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Shell), TOTE Inc. (TOTE), and Wärtsilä Corporation(Wärtsilä) Wednesday announced that they have come together to form a cross-industry coalition known SEA\LNG, intended accelerate the adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as marine fuel.
Korean shipowner, Ilshin, and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard have signed a contract for the construction of an LNG-fuelled, 50,000 dwt bulk carrier, a world first for the segment. The vessel will be powered by a dual-fuel MAN B&W 6G50ME-C9.5-GI engine, to be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries - Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD) who will also supply the ME-GI and fuel gas supply system.
Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) said it is continuing promotion and development of LNG as fuel for ships to reduce environmental footprint.
United European Car Carriers (UECC) recently launched its second LNG-powered pure car and truck carrier, the TBN Auto Energy at the NACKS shipyard in Nantong, China. The vessel is a part of a two LNG PCTCs contract UECC, the company owned jointly by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and Wallenius Lines, signed with NACKS. The first vessel, the TBN Auto Eco was launched earlier this year.
Singapore’s Keppel Corporation said Thursday it has entered into an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to form a joint venture company, which will establish a liquefied natural gas bunkering business in Singapore.
DNV GL has provided a report for the EU providing recommendations on how to address barriers to wider adoption of LNG as marine fuel. It provides an overview of currently applicable standards, rules and regulations governing the maritime LNG supply chain, a gap analysis identifying the gaps in the current regulatory framework in order to make LNG bunkering and LNG fuelled vessels feasible in the EU, a set of recommendations addressing the gaps identified, and an impact assessment of the prioritized recommendations and actions.
An increasing number of ships and vessels are using liquefied natural gas or LNG as a clean fuel to comply with the regulations laid by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) across emission control areas. LNG as a ship fuel reduces the emission of sulphur dioxide by 90-95% compared to the conventional petroleum fuels. This factor has propelled the growth of the global LNG bunkering market, says Transparency Market Research (TMR).
E.U. companies struggle to meet tough new emissions standards. While diesel engines remain the norm in shipping, competitors like LNG are becoming both more feasible and more available. Part of the reason is the rapid expansion of Sulfur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) across North America and Europe. So the critical question becomes: Does "green” propulsion allow the merging of economic efficiency with environmental benefits, or is it just another compliance cost for the shipping trade?