New LNG fuelled tanker first for inland waterways

From Marine Log
15 December 2011

The inland waterways of the Netherlands are now home to the 6,100 dwt Argonon, the world's first new LNG-fuelled tanker, following its delivery by the Dutch Shipyard Trico B.V.
Built to Lloyd's Register class, MT Argonon represents a significant milestone for the Deen Shipping subsidiary, Argonon Shipping B.V., in its pursuit of cleaner transport solutions for Europe. Lloyd’s Register helped the owners and regulators to identify their risks, meet regulatory requirements and overcome the technical challenges for the precedent-setting tanker.
"This has been a great project and it is a significant first," said Piet Mast, Lloyd’s Register's Marine Business Manager for Western Europe. "The nature of inland waterways traffic, which passes through or close to major population centers, makes LNG an attractive way to reduce harmful local emissions. We had to look carefully at the risks and worked closely with the owner and the regulators to ensure that they understood, and were comfortable with, the technical solutions that were developed."
The dual-fuel system is designed to burn an 80/20 mixture of natural gas and diesel, reducing SOx, NOx and particulate-matter emissions, as well as reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from tank to flue. The LNG is stored in a transport tank located on deck, supplied by Cryonorm Projects, based near Amsterdam.
"The inland shipping industry, as far as we know, is the safest and cleanest mode of transport. But, to keep this lead, we have to take a big step forward in environmental performance," said shipowner Gerard Deen. "I think that the dual-fuel principle is a way to reduce the emissions in our sector. Lloyd’s Register was very pragmatic in their approach to finding solutions to convert seagoing regulations into inland shipping rules regarding dual fuel."
Along with Lloyd’s Register, the Netherlands Shipping Inspectorate approved the vessel’s LNG system for operation in the Netherlands and the ship has taken on its first load of LNG bunker fuel. The next step is to secure the regulatory approvals from the Central Commission for Navigating on the Rhine and the UN-ECE ADN Safety Committee, to open the way for navigation beyond the Netherlands.
"The owners are to be congratulated for being pioneers," said Mast. "At Lloyd’s Register, we have been involved with LNG for a long time, so were able to provide support through the plan-approval and construction processes. We now look forward to supporting the ship through many years of ‘clean’ trading."
Argonon has entered service and will start operating with gas this week following some final, main-engine tests. Propulsion power for the 110-meter-long tanker is supplied by two, dual-fuel Caterpillar DF3512 engines, each providing 1,115 KW.
The ship has the capacity to transit from Rotterdam to Basel and back without bunkering.
"We are currently providing technical and regulatory guidance for 20 confirmed or proposed inland waterway applications that intend to use LNG as fuel," says Bas Joormann, West European Area Inland Waterway Product Manager for Lloyd’s Register. "There is a lot of interest, and for good reason. Inland waterways, like ferries in emission-control areas, are very suitable for LNG. But the regulatory regime is different. We're helping owners and governmental bodies to identify the risks and manage them to at least the level of safety provided by the existing fuel-management and combustion requirements."

Interferry says meeting low-sulfur deadline is "mission impossible"

I find this interesting in contrast with the study done by the Glosten Associates on the conversion of Washington State Ferries to LNG Propulsion. (Refer to our  21 November Blog Post.) I guess that the contrast comes from the economic hardships facing Europe versus our own here in the United States. I think this deadline hits them economically where we were three or four years ago. It will be interesting to see how they emerge from it.

From MarineLog News Article.
28 November 2011

The international trade association for the ferry industry, Interferry, claims that ferry operators in northern Europe face a "near-impossible" choice in trying to meet the 2015 deadline for ultra-low sulfur emissions from bunker fuel. It also says that the low-sulfur legislation will " percentprompt an environmentally damaging modal shift from short-sea to overland transport and pose severe financial implications for the overall European economy.

Under pending IMO and soon to be agreed European Union (EU) environmental requirements, vessels operating in the Baltic, North Sea and Channel Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will have to comply with a 0.1 percent limit on fuel sulfur content.

Interferry says that meeting the 2015 deadline is "mission impossible" because of "unsustainable cost increases."

The association argues that, despite the ferry industry's efforts to develop alternative technologies and feasible alternative fuels, abatement technologies and financial support will not be available or sufficient enough to avoid a modal shift from sea to road.

A "toolbox" of technical and financial solutions proposed by the European Commission (EC) suggests the use of clean LNG fuel or, for vessels that continue to run on heavy fuel oil, the use of scrubbers - exhaust gas cleaning systems. It also points operators towards EU funding initiatives and state aid.

Interferry says that these are not realistic options because:

• It is widely recognised in Europe that LNG is only an option for new vessels due to the prohibitive cost of converting existing vessels, and in any case the LNG fuel supply infrastructure is inadequate
• Scrubber technology is not a "miracle cure." Ferry operators have contributed financially and operationally to developing the technology and Interferry says it is a solution that seems to be able to remove sulfur particles from the exhaust gases on some ships. However, a new Interferry feasibility study covering 108 vessels from six leading operators reveals that scrubbers would not be technically or financially viable for 60 percent of the existing fleet. Furthermore, trial installations among association members have shown that it will not be possible to have scrubbers in operation in time for 2015 for the other 40 percent
• EU funding is virtually non-applicable as it applies largely to newbuilds and new routes – a low priority among operators who have invested heavily in new tonnage in recent years, and who now face a desperate economic climate that also reduces the likelihood of state aid

"There is no financial support for existing ferries, while LNG and scrubbers are not feasible," says Johan Roos, the association's executive director of EU and IMO affairs. "In effect, the toolbox is completely empty.

"Our only option is to use marine gas oil – technically straightforward but very costly and potentially counter-productive in environmental terms. Operators have warned that they will not be able to pass on the 70 percent or more fuel cost increase to customers with a choice of transport modes, which will inevitably push up to 50 percent of cargo off short-sea ships and back on to the road network."

Mr. Roos added that, apart from cost, availability is also an issue with MGO, stressing: "At the very least, the IMO must bring forward its availability review from 2018, as mandated in MARPOL Annex VI, to 2012 or 2013. It's also clear that the ongoing revision of the EU Directive must put provisions in place as to what should happen if low-sulfur fuel is simply not available to operators in 2015."

Interferry conducted the scrubber feasibility study among six Interferry members operating in the north European ECAs - Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Grimaldi Group, P&O Ferries, Stena Line and TT-Line.

The conclusion that more than half their existing ships could not be fitted with scrubbers was based on five critical parameters:
Vessel age and the consequent commercial viability of making a massive technical investment

• Stability reserves taking into account the weight of scrubber units and how high up the stack they would be fitted
• Deadweight reserves and the resulting impact on cargo capacity
• Casing – because many ferries have very limited void in the ideal stack casing location and would therefore need special scrubber casing that reduces cargo capacity
• Whether or not Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology was already fitted to reduce NOx emissions – if so, retrofitting wet exhaust scrubbers would be more challenging as these cool gases to below 100 degrees C compared with temperatures above 400 degrees C required by SCR

The detailed results are being offered to the European Maritime Safety Agency for independent audit and will also be made available to relevant authorities.

The EC toolbox was discussed in Helsinki on November 18 when senior personnel from Interferry members joined Mr. Roos at a special seminar organized by the Finnish Ministry of Transport & Communications and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency. Invited delegates also came from national authorities, shipowners' associations and equipment manufacturers.

Mr. Roos reports that at the meeting, where an EC representative and various national administrators also participated, it became obvious that current funding support programs are only allowed for new ships or new routes and are not available to address the "real problem"of safeguarding existing fleets and the routes they already service – offloading millions of trucks from the European road network every year.

November 28, 2011

Wärtsilä completes unique conversion of vessel to LNG operation

We recently published an article on the conversion of Washington State Ferries to LNG propulsion. This seemed like an appropriate follow up for that article which was based on a study by the Glosten Associates.

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade & Technical Press release, 23 November 2011

The product tanker ‘Bit Viking’ was the first vessel ever to undergo a conversion by Wärtsilä from heavy fuel oil to liquefied natural gas (LNG) operation. The conversion enables the ‘Bit Viking’ to qualify for lower nitrogen oxide (NOX) emission taxes under the Norwegian NOX fund scheme.

The unique fuel conversion of the product tanker ‘Bit Viking’, from heavy fuel oil to gas operation, has been finalised and in October the vessel was handed over to the customer, Tarbit Shipping. The re-commissioned vessel is operated by Statoil along the Norwegian coastline, and the conversion carried out by Wärtsilä enables it to qualify for lower NOX emission taxes under the Norwegian NOX fund scheme. The fund is a cooperative effort whereby participating companies may apply for financial support in return for introducing NOX reducing measures. Furthermore, liquefied natural gas (LNG) operation means lower carbon oxide emissions, and virtually no sulphur oxide or particle emissions whatsoever.

First marine dual fuel (DF) conversion

This is the first marine installation in the world to involve converting Wärtsilä 46 engines to Wärtsilä 50DF engines, and the first 50DF marine installation with mechanical propulsion. By operating on LNG, the ‘Bit Viking’ becomes one of the most environmental friendly product tankers in the world.

In August 2010, Wärtsilä announced that it had signed a turnkey project with Tarbit Shipping to convert the ‘Bit Viking’ to LNG operation. The scope of the conversion package from Wärtsilä included deck-mounted gas fuel systems, piping, two six-cylinder Wärtsilä 46 engines converted to Wärtsilä 50DF units with related control systems and all adjustments to the ship’s systems necessitated by the conversion. The vessel’s classification certificate was also updated. The engines are connected directly to the propeller shafts through a reduction gearbox, thus avoiding the electrical losses that are an unavoidable feature of diesel-electric configurations. This enables a significant improvement in propulsion efficiency, reduced fuel consumption, and corresponding reductions in emissions. This is the first LNG fuelled vessel to be classified by Germanischer Lloyd.

New LNG storage system

The ‘Bit Viking’ utilises Wärtsilä’s new LNGPac system, which enables the safe and convenient onboard storage of LNG. The two 500 cubic metre LNG storage tanks are mounted on the deck to facilitate bunkering operations and permit the bunkering of LNG at a rate of 430 cubic metres per hour. The storage tanks provide the vessel with 12 days of autonomous operation at 80 per cent load, with the option to switch to marine gas oil if an extended range is required. When visiting EU ports, which have a 0.1 per cent limit on sulphur emissions, the vessel operates on gas.

“Wärtsilä’s unique expertise and experience with dual fuel technology, as well as with fuel conversion projects, were the main reasons for us choosing them. We appreciate the technological efficiency of the Wärtsilä solutions and the expert way in which this conversion project has been handled. We are proud that the ‘Bit Viking’ is now one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable tankers in operation,” says Anders Hermansson, Technical Manager, Tarbit Shipping.

“This is a major step for Wärtsilä in consolidating its market leading position in LNG solutions for the shipping industry. The successful sea trials with this vessel provide yet further validation of the viability of LNG as the marine fuel of the future. We anticipate that this development will rapidly accelerate during the coming few years,” says Sören Karlsson, General Manager, Gas Applications, Ship Power Technology

LNG use on Washington State Ferries Could Save Millions over Time.

An LNG-fuelled ferry would have significant environmental and economic benefits, according to a recently feasibility study for Washington State Ferries. Architectural and marine engineering firm, The Glosten Associates, recently completed the feasibility study for Washington State Ferries (WSF) on converting its 144-car ferry design to liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion. 

Glosten's study concluded that the conversion is both technically feasible and cost effective, although technical and regulatory challenges remain. The study examined design, economic, regulatory, and environmental issues. 

The operational savings for a single vessel are estimated to be between $900,000 and $1.25 million per year, after an upfront capital cost premium of $8.5 million to $10 million. Switching to natural gas fuel will significantly reduce emissions of nitrous oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), particulate matter, and carbon dioxide (CO2). These greenhouse gases have been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as significant factors in harming human health, including respiratory illnesses, as well as damaging to the environment. 

Glosten’s design was formally reviewed by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). USCG provided extensive feedback as well as a written response, showing their willingness to work with owners early in developing a case-by-case design basis until official rules are developed. The USCG response provides WSF with a regulatory basis from which to advance the project design. This is an important result, as the lack of USCG regulations is often cited as a primary risk to vessel owners interested in reaping the benefits of LNG fuel conversion.

Overall, this looks very promising for the nation's largest ferry system to save on operating costs. The initial investment is pretty sizeable, however saving nearly a million dollars per year in fuel will do a lot to shrink the state budget. We think that this would be a great use of federal funds as opposed to some of the other job creation projects that have been touted - such as the high-speed rail project the current administration is pushing.

Click herefor the full Glosten Associates report.

LNG Freight Gains on Trinidad Cargoes

From Bloomberg Business News:
14 November 2011

Demand for tankers that haul liquefied natural gas is set to climb as much as 3 percent as Trinidad and Tobago ships more cargoes to Europe and Asia amid rising U.S. shale-gas production, Lorentzen & Stemoco AS said.
About 7 million metric tons of Trinidadian LNG will travel three or four times farther as imports into the U.S. decline, creating demand for up to 12 more ships a year, Knut Stangebye Olsen, a gas analyst at the Oslo-based shipping consultant, said by phone today. A fleet of about 350 tankers carries 217 million tons of the fuel a year, he said.
The longer distances will support single-voyage charter rates for LNG carriers, which now exceed $100,000 a day, according to Stangebye Olsen, a former manager at tanker owner BW Gas Ltd. The percentage of ships at work, or fleet utilization, is at least 95 percent, he said.
“When you go past 90 percent utilization and you have some extra demand generated, the impact on the spot market rate is very substantial,” Stangebye Olsen said. “That’s why you get so much effect out of this.”
Trinidad and Tobago, the largest exporter of LNG to the U.S., is now sending 25 percent of its shipments to the country, down from 75 percent three years ago, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said yesterday. Cargoes previously shipped to the U.S. are going to South America and Asia, Ramnarine said. The Caribbean nation exports 15 million tons of the fuel a year.
Japanese utilities imported 20 percent more LNG in October than a year earlier as operating rates at nuclear plants fell to the lowest levels in at least 34 years.
LNG is natural gas that’s been chilled to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 162 degrees Celsius) to put it in a liquid state for shipping by tanker.
To contact the reporter on this story: Isaac Arnsdorf in London at iarnsdorf@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at anightingal1@bloomberg.net

STX Anounces Eoseas Concept Ship, Incredible Eco-Friendly Design!

The Following is an Article from Ship Technology . This is a pretty incredible design. I would venture to call it the mother of all Sailing Vessels! 

 (11/9/2011)

www.ship-technology.com

Eoseas is a concept cruise ship being developed by STX Europe in collaboration with Stirling Design International (SDI).

The 105,000t ship will have an overall length of 305m, breadth of 60m and draft of 8m. Eoseas is being developed as a part of the Ecorizon programme launched by STX France in 2007.

STX's Ecorizon programme

Ecorizon is a technical programme aimed at developing innovative marine clean technologies and alternatives to oil fuels. The project attained maturity in 2009 after two years of research and development work.

Jointly funded by STX Europe and the Regional Council, Ecorizon consists of five major work programmes including energy management, air emission management, water management, waste management and sustainable design.

Ecorizon addresses the entire environmental footprint of the ship throughout the design, construction and operation stages. The long-term goal of the concept is to reduce the use of non-sustainable energy to 50% by 2015.

Eoseas design and features

Eoseas incorporates a pentamaran hull design. The double hull design will feature long promenade decks on both sides of the ship.

The ship will be a trimaran on five hulls, of which two hulls on either side will have the same fore-and-aft plane. An air cushion under the main hull optimises the hydrodynamic characteristics of the vessel.

The double skin on the ship will function as a natural air conditioning system. The frictional resistance of the ship is reduced with the air film injection and the froude number is reduced by incorporating vertical bow.

Fresh water is generated onboard using highly efficient multistage evaporators and reverse osmosis. The ship will feature an advanced wastewater purification system to treat grey and black waters. An absorption chiller absorbs rain water from the upper decks. It uses heat generated from engines.

The design objectives of the Eoseas are to reduce power consumption by 50%, emissions of CO2 by 50%, SO2 by 100%, NOX by 90% and ash by 100%.

Accommodation onboard the concept cruise ship

Eoseas can accommodate 3,311 passengers in 1,403 cabins. There are 555 cabins for 1,089 crew members. The ship allows the passengers to fully explore the maritime environment. The passenger space ratio of the ship will be 31.7 when full and 37.4 based on lower berths occupancy.

The cabins are designed to use natural lighting and are fitted with presence sensors and light sensors. The energy management systems in the cabins reduce energy consumption by 30%.

Propulsion and power

Eoseas will be powered by four dual-fuel LNG diesel electric generator sets. Each genset provides 8MW power for propulsion and hotel load. There are four screws, two pump propellers with shaft lines on the outriggers and two pump propeller pods on the central hull.

LNG is stored in a storage system similar to that of LNG carriers and is transferred in a pressurised service tank. The ship will have an advanced heat recovery plant to recover thermal energy.

8,300m² photovoltaic panels fixed on side and upper deck provide maximum power of 108MW and an average of 270kWe. The organic waste gasification plant onboard generates 300kWe syn gas which is used in the generator sets.

The ship is equipped with an innovative sail concept patented by STX France. The sails mounted on five masts over 12,440m² significantly use wind energy for propulsion.

STX France conducted 13 tank tests with different hulls and propulsion configurations during 2008 and 2009, achieving 17% improvements over conventional propulsion / hull systems.

The innovative propulsion system aboard the ship enhances fuel efficiency, redundancy and manoeuvring.

10000 Ships to Use LNG Propulsion by 2020?

This report comes from from MEC Intelligence. The impact of this suggests phenomenal growth (over 9000% growth) in LNG use for maritime propulsion. This growth over the next eight years could very well change the face of marine engineering.

LNG in marine propulsion: A Disruption to the Maritime Industry?

According a new forecast by MEC intelligence nearly 10,000 vessels could be adopting LNG propulsion by 2020 triggering a huge growth in the market. Companies in all aspects of the maritime value chain– oil majors, terminals, ports, bunker suppliers, service companies, component producers, vessel owners and charterers – need to rethink their offerings.”

A ground breaking report published by the maritime cleantech market insight firm MEC Intelligence estimates more than 5% of the world fleet will adopt LNG propulsion by 2020 a huge growth considering less than 100 vessels presently.

Best Option for Newbuilds

Strict environment regulations requiring the reduction of SOx, NOx to 0.1% in ECA zone in 2015 and 0.5% globally in 2020 will stimulate demand for technologies that can eliminate or reduce emissions from vessel exhausts. The key compliance options available are either adoption of new types of fuel – low sulphur MGO or LNG – or using scrubber technology on the existing HFO fuel.

The LNG propulsion technology will potentially gain massive traction in the new build segment owing to significantly lower operation costs leading to a lower total ownership cost over the ship’s lifecycle. The total ownership cost over ship’s lifecycle for a new build LNG propelled vessel (depending on vessel type and geography) is expected to be up to 40% lower as compared to that of a fuel oil and MGO propelled vessel.

The low cost are attributed to the abundant availability and competitive prices of LNG compared to crude. Even though, the price of LNG is expected to increase with the pickup in natural gas demand in power sector it is not likely to be significant considering the new supplies from unconventional gas reserves.

Further, considering the often more than 25 year long life cycle of vessels, LNG adoption makes the ship essentially future proof in terms of further regulatory driven emission reductions in SOx, NOx, and Particulate Matter approaching in the horizon.

Huge Long Term Impact Albeit a Slow Start

Better Economics combined with development of building capacity, recent advancements in engine and fuel gas technologies are leading to a pick-up in the interest in LNG propulsion. Although availability of infrastructure and standards is a limiting factor, yet, this is expected to be only a short term inhibitors. An analysis of the existing LNG supply and terminal infrastructure shows ample availability of the fuel to be able to supply and bunkering infrastructure can be developed rapidly to meet the growing fleet.

With the development of infrastructure and IMO ratifications the fleet is expected to reach up to 1,000 vessels by 2015 but pick up rapidly to grow up to 10 times in the subsequent five years as the technology, infrastructure, and economics stack equivocally in favour of LNG propulsion. However, in case infrastructure and regulation are delayed the penetration is estimated to be significant lower yet still significant.

Unique Opportunity to Differentiate and Shape the Market

The report concludes that the adoption of LNG in vessels will call for changes in all aspects of the value chain – oil majors, terminals, ports, bunker suppliers, service companies, components suppliers, owners and charterers – requiring companies to rethink their offerings and align to a new reality sooner or later. It is one of the unique times when companies can move fast to take advantage of a new technology to differentiate themselves in the largely ‘commodity’ market for equipment and services.

About MEC Intelligence

MEC Intelligence is a leading market insight firm focused on growth in the maritime, energy, and cleantech sectors. The company brings together its unique data assets, deep experience in supporting strategic and market business development, and broad industry knowledge to develop objective perspective on industry developments and identify growth opportunities for the entire maritime, energy, and cleantech ecosystem.