A gassy on-dock debate
With LNG-fuelled ships now becoming a reality, port planners need to consider how to accomodate and supply these newcomers
Maritime issues, by their nature, always cross boundaries - geographical, economic, or other.
One issue that will be emerging in New York, and elsewhere, is that of fuelling for vessels. It’s well known that an Emission Control Area (ECA), designed to reduce sulphur and nitrogen oxide pollution from vessels, will come into force in summer 2012. This is not a port problem; the fuel supply community has had ample time to create supply line for providing fuels with a sulphur content mandated to be 1%, or less.
But, the responses of the shipping industry to the new emissions rules (which will become more stringent over time) will require the ports to take an active role in discussions and implementation.
In particular, the issue of liquefied natural gas as a fuel for shipping will require a careful redesign of infrastructure, procedures, personnel certifications and training - really everything connected with fuelling. This is unlike provision of fuels with a lower sulphur content, where an existing tank (or perhaps an adjacent tank) is allocated to the cleaner fuel.
LNG as a fuel for vessels around harbours (which could mean dual fuel/Compressed Natural Gas, or actual LNG) was a major discussion topic at the recent Mare Forum conference, in Houston. The subtext to all this is that gas, suddenly abundant with recent exploitation of shale formations in the North America, is absurdly cheaper in the States than in Europe or Asia. We have already seen orders for offshore support vessels, to be built in the US Gulf, that will be dual fuelled.
At the Mare Forum event, where I was among a handful of discussion leaders, one particular dialogue got into the specifics of outfitting ferries in a harbour area with the cleaner fuel. Questions raised centered on the placement of fuel storage; should it be below decks (with perceived risk to crew or passenger spaces) or up on top, seemingly out of harm’s way?
I am not a scientist or engineer, but the back and forth showed me that classification societies have been doing extensive work in this area. The local fire departments, who have a say in such matters, obviously, might be prodded by port planners to sit down with naval architects from class, and hear their viewpoints.
What I heard at another event (a technical session organised one of the big class societies), where the subject of LNG fuelling had also come up, was that the biggest problems were off the “human” variety. Procedures and checklists - which unfortunately become routinised in any industrial situation - may need to be re-created for the advent of cleaner fuels. Ports are central to this process.
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