Low Carbon Shipping News

The European Union, Canada, Japan and climate-vulnerable Pacific Island states are among 47 countries rallying support for a charge on the international shipping sector's greenhouse gas emissions, documents reviewed by Reuters showed.The documents, being discussed at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting now entering a second week, outline four proposals with a combined 47 backers for imposing a fee on each tonne of greenhouse gas the industry produces.Support for…

Headway Technology Group, a leader in green shipping technology, hosted a seminar on January 23, 2024, at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, Singapore. The event, themed "Innovation for better low carbon solution" drew more than100 delegates, including representatives from Singaporean ship owners, shipyards, designing institutes, and alternative fuel associations. The focus of the seminar was to engage in meaningful discussions on the challenges and opportunities within the realm of low-carbon shipping.In the keynote speech…

Belgian tanker operator Euronav and its controlling shareholder CMB have entered into a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the shares in cleantech maritime group CMB.TECH for $1.15 billion in cash.Euronav said the transaction is part of its renewed strategy of diversification, decarbonization and accelerated optimization of the its current crude oil tanker fleet, driven by CMB.TECH’s ‘future-proof’ fleet of 106 low carbon vessels, of which 46 are under construction.CMB.TECH builds…

Maritime nations including Denmark and the Marshall Islands are rallying support for a global carbon dioxide emissions levy on shipping, with talks at a critical stage ahead of a U.N. agency meeting next month that could back the measure.The levy could provide funds to help countries cope with climate change and help curb emissions from shipping - a sector that transports about 90% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions, but whose international nature means it often avoids national CO2-cutting regulations.Member countries of the U.N.

Danish investment company J. Lauritzen announced it has ordered a third methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier from Japan's Tsuneishi Shipbuilding in an expansion of its partnership with U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill.The vessel will be a sister ship to the two 81,200 dwt Kamsarmax bulkers ordered by J. Lauritzen in April.The ships will be fully owned by Lauritzen NexGen Shipping and be operated by Cargill for a minimum period of seven years.Each will be capable of trading with zero…

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.

Africa's abundance of solar, wind and thermal energy across the continent can place Africa at the core of the global decarbonization of maritime transport, the IMO conference on Low-Carbon Shipping in Africa heard on May 5.Speaking at the Conference, held in In Mombasa, Kenya, and co-organized with the Kenya Maritime Authority, The Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, Minister of Transport, Ghana, said Africa is the key to speeding up global climate action on the Decarbonization Agenda.

Apps, big data, tech, software and cutting-edge innovation were hallmarks at last year’s Sea Tech conference in Brest, France. During one session, for example, on electronic charting, the speakers made reference to “data as fuel.” For vessel operations, data was called a resource just like diesel or LNG or lithium batteries. The reference was usually to big data, i.e., almost boundless information flowing like a gusher from a firehose, the new force driving applications to set routing…

Apps, big data, tech, software and cutting-edge innovation were hallmarks at last year’s Sea Tech conference in Brest, France. During one session, for example, on electronic charting, the speakers made reference to “data as fuel.” For vessel operations, data was called a resource just like diesel or LNG or lithium batteries. The reference was usually to big data, i.e., almost boundless information flowing like a gusher from a firehose, the new force driving applications to set routing…

Mining company Anglo American announced that its newly launched liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fueled Capesize+ vessel, the Ubuntu Harmony, has loaded its first cargo of iron ore from its Kumba operations in South Africa.The 190,000 tonne bulk carrier, flagged in Singapore, is the first of 10 LNG dual-fueled newbuilds that Anglo American will introduce to its chartered fleet during the course of 2023 and 2024, delivering an estimated 35% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to ships fueled by conventional marine oil fuel.

With 90% of global trade moved by sea, shipping is a major contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 10% between 2012 and 2018, while the industry’s share of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions grew slightly to almost 3%, about the same volume as Germany. It also forecasts that ‘business as usual’ could see emissions increase by up to 50% by 2050 due to the growth in shipping trade.The race to decarbonize shipping is now underway.

With 90% of global trade moved by sea, shipping is a major contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 10% between 2012 and 2018, while the industry’s share of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions grew slightly to almost 3%, about the same volume as Germany. It also forecasts that ‘business as usual’ could see emissions increase by up to 50% by 2050 due to the growth in shipping trade.The race to decarbonize shipping is now underway.

The potential for carbon markets and pricing to reshape global shipping, as well as the impact of the emerging hydrogen and carbon value chains, are explored in-depth in the latest support for the industry’s decarbonization ambitions from ABS.The groundbreaking analysis is at the heart of the fourth edition of the ABS Setting the Course to Low Carbon Shipping series, as well as insights on the industry’s progress to low- and zero-carbon operations.“We are in the early innings…

A Fugro-led consortium has secured a grant from Dutch Government’s Netherlands Enterprise Agency for the development of methanol as a low-carbon shipping fuel.The MENENS (Methanol as Energy Step Towards Emission-free Dutch Shipping) consortium has 22 partners, and according to Fugro, represents the complete Dutch maritime sector, from equipment suppliers, designers, shipbuilders, and ship owners to Geo-data and survey specialist Fugro."Fugro’s leading role in the consortium is…

Classification society ABS continues its series of alternative fuels guidance with the publication of its latest whitepaper examining the potential of biofuels in shipping.The Sustainability Whitepaper: Biofuels as Marine Fuel gives an overview of the various types of marine liquid biofuels that are “drop-in” fuel options for replacing conventional fuels in both the near- and long-term and their potential to contribute to industry decarbonization goals. Other aspects considered include safety…

Stena Bulk invests in the future, a future defined by decarbonization in the shipping sector. Erik Hånell, President & CEO, Stena Bulk discusses the plan, the path and the costs.While the majority of shipowners still struggle to pick the technological path toward meeting emission reduction targets in the coming 30 years, one company, Stena Bulk which today has about 110 tankers (30% owned, 70% managed) generating about $1.4B in revenue annually, recently unveiled its roadmap toward decarbonization…

Swedish tanker shipping company Stena Bulk on Thursday outlined its roadmap to become a net zero business by 2050, including a transiion to cleaner burning alternative fuels and eventually zero emissions shipping options.The company set five dated decarbonization targets, the first of which was achieved in 2020 when Stena Bulk began offering customers low-carbon shipping options based on the use of biofuels and an internal carbon emissions offsetting program with up to a 100% reduction of CO2 emissions.

An ABS-classed Suezmax tanker ordered by Avin International LTD, the first vessel of a potential order of three vessels, is to be the first ammonia-fuel ready vessel in the world.The landmark 274-meter-long vessel is now under construction at China's New Times Shipbuilding Co., Ltd (NTS), with options for two further vessels. Currently conventionally fueled, the vessel complies with the ABS Ammonia Ready Level 1 requirements, indicating it is designed to be converted to run on ammonia in the future.

Finnish maritime technology firm Wärtsilä and Grieg Edge, the innovation hub of Norwegian shipping group Grieg Star, are working on a joint project to launch an ammonia-fuelled tanker producing no greenhouse gas emissions by 2024. With Norwegian government support worth 46.3 million NOK (4.4 million EUR), the partnership aims to build what will be the world's first green ammonia fuelled tanker."The MS Green Ammonia project is the result of a Nordic industrial collaboration group founded from the Zeeds (Zero Emissions Energy Distribution at Sea) initiative…

Two centuries after the first coal-powered steamships crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a Swedish company is designing a futuristic throwback: a huge, wind-driven cargo ship that could help end the fossil fuel era and limit climate change.Shipping accounted for 2.9% of man-made greenhouse gas in 2018, and the industry’s share of planet-heating emissions has been rising in recent years, according to the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization.One solution may be to turn the clock back to pre-industrial times and again hoist sails to carry cargo around the world.Sweden’s Wallenius Marine AB…

Classification society ABS has published guidance on Ammonia as Marine Fuel, evaluating the challenges in design and operation of ammonia-fueled vessels.The latest in an ongoing series of ABS sustainability focused whitepapers examining different fuel options for the marine industry, Ammonia as Marine Fuel provides information for shipowners considering ammonia as an option in both the near-term and long-term.“Ammonia is a zero-carbon fuel that can enter the global market relatively quickly and help meet the IMO’s GHG reduction target for 2050.

A snap poll recently conducted by ABS found that as many two-thirds of global shipowners had yet to select a technical pathway to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) mandatory decarbonization targets for 2030 and 2050.With the technologies supporting a myriad of new low-carbon fuels evolving at vastly different speeds, any tendencies to wait for information to mature before making significant long-term capital commitments are understandable, and pragmatic.With…

The pace at which the maritime industry transitions to low- and zero-carbon fuels will have the single biggest impact on its global carbon footprint, more than predictable shifts in commodity demand, advances in ship technology and operating practices, or new designs.That is a key finding of a comprehensive new report, Setting the Course to Low-Carbon Shipping, from the American Bureau of ShippingThe report looks at the decarbonization of shipping via two distinct scenarios: a ‘standard’ scenario…