Shell Shipping Maritime News

Shell Shipping & Maritime and Orca AI kicked off with a pilot project trialing Tel Aviv-based start-up Orca AI’s maritime navigation platform on a Shell-managed gas tanker. But it has now morphed into a long-term development collaboration resulting in new features that can significantly enhance safety at sea. Here Saurabh Kumar, Project Engineer at Shell Shipping & Maritime, and Dor Raviv, CTO at Orca AI, reflect on outcomes and benefits of the partnership so far.Navigational error resulting in collision or grounding is one of the highest safety risks associated with maritime transport.

Russian oil and gas shipping giant Sovcomflot said Friday it had on March 15, together with Shell, "broke new ground," with the completion of the "first-ever Aframax tanker fuelling using LNG in the USA."Sovcomflot’s Gagarin Prospect tanker, on long-term charter to Shell, was en-route from Corpus Christi to Europe. It received 1,075 cubic metres of marine LNG from the Shell NA LNG LLC chartered Q-LNG 4000 outside the Port of Canaveral, Florida. "This represented the first ever ship-to-ship LNG fuelling of a large capacity Aframax tanker in the USA…

Oil major Shell has signed agreements to charter ten new crude tankers powered by dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines, with the company planning to halve half of the long-term chartered crude tankers run on LNG in 2023.Four of the very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have been chartered from Advantage Tankers, three from AET, and three from International Seaways. All 10 ships will be built in South Korea by DSME, the first operational from 2022, and be on charter to Shell…

Some of the world's biggest commodities and energy players on Wednesday launched an initiative to cut and track emissions from the ships they charter as efforts intensify to reduce the maritime industry's carbon footprint.About 90% of world trade is transported by sea, and the UN shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.Carbon emissions from shipping rose in the six-year period to 2018 and accounted for 2.89% of the world’s CO2, the latest IMO-commissioned study showed, mounting pressure on the

A high-level meeting on piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea held at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) head office in London, was attended by the shipping community, Flag States, seafarer groups and maritime agencies, including International Maritime Bureau (IMB).The symposium has shone the spotlight on the need for urgent action to ensure the safety and security of seafarers transiting the region.Discussion were animated, but all gathered were in consensus as to the outcome, which is to identify actions that will reduce the risks posed to seafarers and shipping, and to make crew kidnappings ‘history’.Dr. Grahaeme Henderson…

Shell delivered its first ship-to-ship bunkering of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from specialized LNG bunker vessel Cardissa in the Port of Rotterdam on Tuesday, marking a number of key milestones as the maritime sector increasingly turns toward cleaner burning LNG fuel.The bunkering of the Sovcomflot's Aframax tanker Gagarin Prospect with LNG is the first operation under a fuel supply agreement between Shell and Sovcomflot signed in 2017, which helped pioneer the expansion of LNG fuel into the tanker industry and…

A Maersk product tanker has become the third commercially operating vessel to be equipped with Norsepower Rotor Sail auxiliary wind propulsion technology.Two Rotor Sails have been installed on board the 109,647- DWT Long Range 2 (LR2) product tanker Maersk Pelican in the Port of Rotterdam, announced project partners Norsepower Oy Ltd., Maersk Tankers, Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) and Shell Shipping & Maritime. The ship is expected to commence its first voyage with its new sails shortly.At 30 meters tall by five meters, the Rotor Sails aboard Maersk Pelican are the largest in the world.

The UK Chamber of Shipping, with backing from 40 shipping companies, has this week written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, asking the Government to double the amount of funding available for seafarer training as soon as possible. The letter was also sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond and the Minister of State, Department for Transport, John Hayes. The UK Chamber, in conjunction with Nautilus International, has submitted a proposal for the Government's existing Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme to be extended. “The Government’s review of SMarT recognised that change was necessary and recommended the level of support should increase from £15 million to around £30 million annually…

Nakilat Shipping Qatar Limited (NSQL) a wholly owned subsidiary of Nakilat and Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell), have completed the first phase of what will be the world’s largest management transition of LNG carriers. The Q-Max LNG carrier Al Mafyar was the 10th vessel to transition from Shell to NSQL management in 10 months, bringing about the successful completion of the first phase. Al Mayfar is wholly-owned by Nakilat and chartered by Qatargas, with a cargo capacity of 266,370 cubic meters. The vessel built in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries was delivered in May 2009 and has been in service ever since. This latest vessel transition brings the fleet size managed by NSQL to 18 vessels, comprising of 14 LNG and 4 LPG carriers.

Norsepower Oy Ltd. in partnership with Maersk Tankers, The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), and Shell Shipping & Maritime, have announced that it will install and trial Flettner rotor sails onboard a Maersk Tankers-owned vessel. The project will be the first installation of wind-powered energy technology on a product tanker vessel, and will provide insights into fuel savings and operational experience. The rotor sails will be fitted during the first half of 2018, before undergoing testing and data analysis at sea until the end of 2019.

Nakilat Shipping Qatar Limited (NSQL) signed an agreement with Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) to begin the planned phased transition of the management of Nakilat’s LNG fleet from Shell to NSQL. Shell has provided a range of shipping services to Nakilat’s LNG fleet since it was established in 2006, including the ship management of 14 Q-Max and 11 Q-Flex LNG carriers and the sharing of Shell’s Shipping & Maritime expertise. The vessels will be transitioned in three phases starting this year and shall be managed by Nakilat’s in-house ship management arm…

Shell Trading Rotterdam BV (Shell) has signed a time-charter agreement with Plouvier Transport NV and Intertrans Tankschiffahrt AG for 15 new inland dual-fuel barges, which will predominantly run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The barges, built by the Dutch shipyard VEKA Shipbuilding BV, will support Shell’s business in trading and transporting mineral oil products in the ARA (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) and Rhinetrack (Germany/Switzerland) regions. Dr. Grahaeme Henderson, Vice President of Shell Shipping & Maritime said…

A specialized LNG Bunker vessel to be built at the STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Company yard in South Korea on behalf of Shell will be powered by Wärtsilä DF dual-fuel engines. The ship will be used to deliver gas to LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) fuelled vessels in Northwest Europe. The newbuild contract is in direct response to the increasing acceptance by the shipping industry of LNG as a marine fuel. The engine order was placed with Wärtsilä in December 2014. Wärtsilä has been at the forefront of the trend towards LNG fuelled shipping. Its industry leading dual-fuel engine technology and gas supply and control systems have been largely responsible for the viability of gas as a fuel for ships.

Silverstream Technologies and Shell announced the sea trial of Silverstream Technologies’ new air lubrication technology for ships, the Silverstream System. The sea trials, independently verified by Lloyds Register Ship Performance Team, show net energy efficiency savings in all analyzed cases, the companies reported. Shell funded, and with Silverstream, oversaw the installation of the Silverstream System on the 40,000DWT products tanker MT Amalienborg, owned by the Danish Shipping company Dannebrog Rederi. The trials verified by the Lloyds Register Ship Performance Team showed net average energy efficiency savings of 4.3% and 3.8% for the vessel in ballast and laden conditions respectively.

Subsidiaries of Teekay LNG Partners L.P. (Teekay LNG) (NYSE:TGP) and a wholly owned company of Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) has announced that they have entered into time-charter contracts for five newbuild LNG carriers. The vessels will operate as part of Shell's global LNG fleet under time-charters ranging in duration from six to eight years, plus extension options. Delivery of the vessels will start from the second half of 2017 into 2018. The new time-charter contracts with Shell will be serviced by five 173,400 cubic meter MEGI (M-type, Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection) engine LNG newbuildings built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., (DSME) of South Korea.

Subsidiaries of Teekay LNG Partners L.P. and a wholly owned company of Royal Dutch Shell plc today announced that they have entered into time-charter contracts for five newbuild LNG carriers. The vessels will operate as part of Shell's global LNG fleet under time-charters ranging in duration from six to eight years, plus extension options. Delivery of the vessels will start from the second half of 2017 into 2018. The new time-charter contracts with Shell will be serviced by five 173,400 cubic meter MEGI (M-type, Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection) engine LNG newbuildings built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., (DSME) of South Korea. MEGI engines will be significantly more fuel-efficient and have lower emission levels than engines currently used in LNG shipping.

The Joint Shipping Initiative - made up of Shell, BP, Maersk, Stena and Japanese shipping companies NYK, MOL and "K" Line - has announced it has given$1.5 million of additional funds to a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) project to improve the lives of Somalis and security for seafarers. The UNDP's "Alternative Livelihoods to Piracy in Puntland and Central Regions ofSomalia" project aims to reduce piracy off the coast of east Africa through local economic development, job creation, training, and business development grants on-shore in one of the world's poorest countries.

Alternative to Diesel Strengthens as Barriers Continue to Fall. From the earliest days of mechanically propelled ships, fuel use has been evolving. Starting with wood, fuel changed to coal, which held sway for many years. Oil began to be used in the late nineteenth century and was clearly the dominate marine fuel of the twentieth century. Environmental shortcomings of fuel oil, particularly traditional heavy bunkers, were brought under increasing scrutiny as the twentieth century came to a close.