Fuel Supply Chain News

Matt Hart, Manager & Platform Leader, Marine & Stationary Power Systems, Wabtec, offers insights on how the megatrends of decarbonization, energy transition and autonomy all inspire and impact the marine power solutions from Wabtec.Matt, to start us off, can you provide insight on the journey to your present position?I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering and started with General Electric in the Edison Engineering Development rotational program at the Erie…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on various maritime digitalization and decarbonization initiatives.The LOI was signed by Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA, and Nick Brown, Council Chairman of IACS, at the sidelines of the 33rd session of the IMO Assembly in London this week.Under the LOI, both parties will consider the development of technical standards and unified requirements to ensure that new maritime solutions are safely implemented.

Carbon capture, energy efficiency and green fuels are the roadmap to net zero by 2050. That’s the pathway outlined by the 2023 Outlook, Beyond the Horizon: View of the Emerging Value Chains, the latest industry-leading research from ABS into shipping’s progress on the green energy transition.Released at the ABS Sustainability Summit during London International Shipping Week, the report examines in depth the carbon, ammonia and hydrogen value chains. It concludes that the industry will need to accelerate investment in carbon capture technology…

Any commentator on the maritime business decarbonization voyage will offer something along the lines of "There will be multiple fuels…" With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings of its Maritime Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) set for early July, it is likely that targets for emissions will be tightened. Whatever mileposts that the IMO actually establishes, there will be no prescriptions handed down on how to get there. By mid-2023, nearly two years after the late 2021 alternative fuels crescendo in the aftermath of the COP26 meetings in Glasgow…

Green methanol manufacturer Carbon Sink is partnering with Jones Act-compliant shipping company Rose Cay Maritime (RCM) to build out an end-to-end low-carbon marine fuel supply chain.The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlining a plan for increasing green fuel production, transportation, bunkering and storage specifically tailored for the shipping sector. RCM and its fleet of U.S.-owned, -built and -crewed vessels will help Carbon Sink link to customers as it develops large-scale green methanol production facilities across the U.S.Carbon Sink CEO Steve Meyer said…

Classification society DNV has awarded the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping in collaboration with Nordic Green Ammonia Powered Ships (NoGAPS) partners BW Epic Kosan, Yara, MAN Energy Solutions, Wärtsilä, Global Maritime Forum and Breeze Ship Design an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of an ammonia-powered gas carrier – the M/S NoGAPS. The certificate was presented during the Nor-Shipping trade fair at the DNV stand.The maritime industry is accelerating in its drive towards a multi-fuel zero carbon future.

Technology company ZeroNorth has signed a long-term strategic partnership with energy and commodity company Vitol.The deal will see Vitol gain full access to the ZeroNorth platform, and ZeroNorth customers will in turn gain access to Vitol’s carbon reduction solutions and bunkering services through subsidiary Vitol Bunkers.Vitol will use the ZeroNorth platform to optimise operations in a number of key business areas, including voyage, vessel, bunker and emissions optimisation…

Proman Stena Bulk, the joint venture between tanker company Stena Bulk and methanol producer Proman, announced the successful completion of the first ever barge-to-ship methanol bunkering on the U.S. Gulf Coast.The JV tankers Stena Pro Marine and Stena Prosperous were refueled with methanol via barge while discharging clean petroleum products at a terminal in the Port of Houston in the first week of April.Stena Pro Marine was bunkered with 1,408MT of methanol, and Stena Prosperous was refueled with 1,203MT during the operation.

Technology company ZeroNorth announced that it has acquired BTS PTE Ltd., a software platform for marine fuel suppliers, headquartered in Singapore.The deal will see ZeroNorth acquire BTS’s flagship suite of services - iBMS (Intelligent Bunker Management System), which helps marine fuel suppliers, traders and brokers digitalize their business processes through eliminating unproductive tasks, automating work processes, greater sharing of information and enhancing decision making.iBMS…

Biofuels provider GoodFuels announced the results of a new partnership with global certification organization Control Union and France’s IDS Group to test the effectiveness of a unique isotopic tracer for biofuels.A successful pilot, conducted during a recent delivery of 500 tonnes of biofuel to the Norden-owned tanker Nord Gardenia, has proven the effectiveness of the tracer technology in real-life applications.The partnership, which commenced in early 2022, has seen the companies collaborate to create the new tracer…

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. on Tuesday announced that the company, along with ITOCHU Corporation has obtained approval in principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for an ammonia bunkering vessel concept.The project is part of a joint development study on ammonia fuel supply chain in Singapore. MOL, which already has experience and knowledge of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels, is taking part in the project together with its partners in the LNG bunkering business in Singapore-TotalEnergies Marine Fuels Pte. Ltd.

Classification society ClassNK has granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) based on its Rule Part GF to Tsuneishi Shipbuilding for its concept design of an LNG-fueled bulker “KAMSARMAX GF”.ClasNK granted the AiP based on its Rule Part GF (regulation for ships using low-flashpoint fuels) incorporating “International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code)."As more environmental technologies have been developed to realize a low-carbon and decarbonized society in the maritime industry…

Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) said on Wednesday it will accelerate efforts to build a global supply chain of cleaner marine energy using fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia as the world heads toward carbon neutrality by 2050."Decarbonizing ship fuel is one of our main goals," Kenta Matsuzaka, senior managing executive officer at MOL, told a news conference."We also want to contribute to global decarbonization by making use of our experience and expertise in building and owning liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel supply vessels to create supply chains of hydrogen and ammonia…

Efforts to get fuel supplies to areas in the United States facing shortages have been slowed because shipowners have mothballed U.S.-flagged oil tankers that can make coastal voyages, shipping sources said on Wednesday.The shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline network to thwart a cyber attack has disrupted nearly half the East Coast's fuel supply and left parts of the southeast facing a severe shortage of gasoline and diesel. Colonial said it began to restart on Wednesday but warned it would take several days for fuel supply chain to return to normal.Pump prices have risen to a seven-year high as motorists rush to fill their tanks.One way…

Crowley Solutions, a provider of energy, maritime, technology and supply chain services for the U.S. government, said it has been awarded a multi-year contract from NATO Support & Procurement Agency (NSPA) for global fuels services consulting.Crowley’s technical experts will be supporting and participating in a NSPA project management team (PMT), while assisting in planning and developing technical aspects of global fuel services requirements for Operational Logistics Support Partnership (OLSP) nations.

A joint Lloyd’s Register (LR) and A.P. Moller – Maersk study assessing the transition to zero carbon fuels has found that the cost of transport will rise – not because ships themselves will require greater levels of investment but because new fuels are projected to be significantly more expensive than existing fossil solutions which will lead to increased operating costs.According to the study partners, achieving net zero is therefore an operating expense (OPEX) not a capital expenditure (CAPEX) challenge.

FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) and Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd, has set a new industry milestone for Singapore by completing its 100th LNG bunkering operation.Since May 2018, FueLNG has been providing truck-to-ship LNG bunkering for two dual-fuel tugs operated by Keppel Smit Towage.FueLNG is also able to provide LNG for the commissioning of LNG systems and machinery, and trials for gas-fueled vessels. In September 2017, FueLNG completed its first operation and provided LNG for the commissioning of the floating liquefaction vessel Hilli Episeyo.“This milestone is testament to FueLNG’s ability to provide safe, cost-efficient and reliable LNG bunkering for our clients,” said Chris Ong, Chairman, FueLNG and CEO, Keppel O&M.

French shipping engineering company Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) has received an order from Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine shipyard concerning the tank design of the LNG bunkering vessel on order at the yard for Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) subsidiary.The LNG containment specialist said in a release that it will design the tanks of the vessel, which will be fitted with the Mark III Flex membrane containment system, a technology developed by GTT.The vessel will offer a total cargo tank capacity of 12,000 m3. Its delivery is planned during the first half of 2021.Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and CEO of GTT, said: “We are very pleased to receive this first order from Sembcorp Marine less than one year after signing a license agreement.

IHS Markit has announced that its energy price-reporting arm, Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), has signed a strategic agreement for an end-to-end LNG trading solution with GLX, an online platform to transact physical LNG cargoes.OPIS, an internationally-referenced price reporting agency serving the oil, natural gas, chemical, coal and biofuels industries has been a long-trusted industry leader for energy price indices, real-time news and expert analysis across the global fuel supply chain. OPIS was at the forefront in adopting IOSCO Oil Price Reporting standards having completed its first independent audit in 2013, with a global…

Total and Singapore's Pavilion Energy have signed a non-binding deal through their subsidiaries to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker supply chain in the port of Singapore, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions, the French oil major's affiliate in charge of worldwide ship fuelling, or bunkering, activities, and Pavilion Gas signed a heads of agreement which covers the shared long-term time charter of a new generation LNG bunker vessel to be commissioned by Pavilion Gas by 2020…

Maritime Blockchain Labs has announced the real-world testing phase for technology solution that enhances traceability and trust in bunker fuel supply chain. Maritime Blockchain Labs (MBL), a partnership set up between Lloyd’s Register Foundation and BLOC to explore the use of blockchain for the assurance and safety of critical infrastructure and drive new business models for the global maritime industry, announced today that its first demonstrator project, a fuel provenance register for the maritime sector that aims to provide trusted information about fuel origin…

A who’s who list of maritime industry executives have signed on to voice their support for a zero-carbon future in shipping.The not-for-profit foundation the Global Maritime Forum brought together a group of 34 CEOs and industry leaders from across the global maritime sector to sign a call for action and lead the industry in a transition toward decarbonization.To achieve this, these leaders believe the maritime industry needs to accelerate both technological and business model innovation…

Japanese shipping company NYK, global mining company BHP, green biofuel company GoodFuels and the developer of blockchain applications for the maritime industry Blockchain Labs for Open Collaboration (BLOC) bunkered biofuel in the tanks a BHP vessel in Netherlands.The Netherlands based GoodFuels Marine, a supplier of sustainable low carbon marine fuels, has annouced the successful delivery of sustainable biofuels to the BHP-chartered, NYK-owned bulk carrier Frontier Sky, with CO2 savings verified with BLOC’s blockchain fuels assurance platform. The advanced biofuel, supplied by GoodFuels via logistics partner Varo Energy, is a ‘drop-in’ marine gasoil (MGO)-equivalent, and was blended with conventional fossil-based MGO in a mix of 30% biofuel to 70% conventional MGO.