Berge Bulk has retrofitted a 2018-bilt Newcastlemax bulk ore carrier Berge Olympus with four large sails. They can be seen in the picture here. It’s pretty impressive. Expected savings are 6 tonnes of fuel and 20 tonnes of CO2 per day. The installation was done during the ship’s first special survey, in China.
The ship trades the Brazil to China route carrying iron ore.
Paul Bartlett Oct 17, 2023
Berge Bulk capesize sail installation expected to clock up double-digit savings
The Copenhagen-based Global Maritime Forum (GMF) has completed a study that concludes ammonia-powered gas carriers could compete effectively as soon as 2026.
The findings are based on a route from the US Gulf Coast to northwestern Europe. The route has been approved in principle by DNV, a classification society and expert in assurance and risk management. The ship would fuel only in the US, and make the most of subsidies from the US government via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the EU’s Fit for 55 measures. So, not subsidy-free!
The design is completed and could be used for a shipyard tender.
Gas carriers are important today because of the Ukraine War sanctions and actions by the EU to eliminate gas imported from Russia. The EU is now a prominent destination for US export gas.
Paul Bartlett | Sep 01, 2023
Ammonia-fuelled gas carriers could compete effectively by 2026
Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Sustainability
Tagged Ammonia-powered gas carriers, Ammonia-powered ships, DNV classification society, EU gas import from Russia, EU's Fit for 55 measures, Gas carriers study, Global Maritime Forum (GMF), innovation, Logistics, ocean shipping, sustainability, Sustainability initiatives, technology, US export gas to the EU, US Gulf Coast to Northwestern Europe route
Bureau Veritas (BV) has produced a feasibility study to estimate the usefulness of carbon capture from marine engines. BV is a multinational risk management insurer and classification society with a strong maritime profile.
The study was conducted by QIYAO EnvironTech (QIYAO), an environmental engineering firm, and Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, Ltd, a shipping firm.
Wah Kwong provided two vessels from their fleet to be studied and submitted for approval by BV, one smaller and one larger bulk carrier. QIYAO engineered for each ship the specific carbon capture equipment and storage for the liquid CO2 produced. All the requisite drawings and design experiments were performed as though this was to be a real installation. Everything was created that would be required to actually gain approval to operate these ships with the equipment.
While the technical details are interesting, I found the most interesting part was the financial analysis. It showed that for these ships, carbon capture can be moderately positive for cash flow, under a lot of assumptions, of course. Those might or might not be realistic.
But the most interesting thing for me was the value of the liquid CO2, which could be sold at a substantial p[profit based on current market prices. The value of the liquid CO2 captured is more than twice the savings from emission control. That’s what the study found.
Carbon Capture is a technology that is available now. It can be installed on existing ships with a moderate amount of engineering change. Some cargo space is lost to the liquid CO2 tanks that must be on board, but the value of the CO2 outweighs the lost cargo space value.
So it’s a requirement for this technology to develop the supply chain features at ports for handling the liquid CO2 produced, and to develop markets for it. It’s widely used in industry and should find a ready market. That will unlock the real value in making this type of conversion a reality.
The report can be downloaded below.
Posted in Logistics, Shipping, Sustainability
Tagged Carbon capture and storage (CCS), Carbon capture technology, Carbon sequestration, Clean shipping solutions, Decarbonization of shipping, Emission reduction strategies, environmental regulations, innovation, Logistics, Marine carbon capture, Marine pollution control, maritime industry, ocean shipping, Ship emissions reduction, Ship engine technologies, Ship fuel efficiency, Sustainable shipping, technology
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