Tag Archives: ocean shipping

Carbon Capture for ships – current state

Posted on September 21, 2024 by just2bruce | Leave a comment

Some people think carbon capture onboard is going to be important in meeting emissions goals for ships. There is some entrepreneurship, and some interest by large oil producers and purveyors.

However, many problems remain to be solved. There is essentially no ‘supply chain’ to handle the liquefied carbon product the ships produce onboard from running the carbon capture equipment. Liquid CO2 has a market, but ports are not set up to move it from the ships to storage nor to distribute it into commercial channels.

And it’s not yet clear how much emissions reduction there will be when conventional fuel is burned on ships but the carbon is captured.

Nevertheless, there is activity in this segment. This article explains what’s happening in one case, based on info from classification society DNV.

There are also several links to resources about carbon capture for ship engines.

I’m quite skeptical of carbon capture. It’s nominally a good thing. But the cost of the storage may be large. And how much captured carbon can we reuse?

If the oil companies are back of it, how can it be all good? What are the pitfalls?

Barry Parker, New York Freelance Correspondent

September 17, 2024

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/sustainability/onboard-carbon-capture-and-storage-gaining-ground

Geopolitics and shipping

Posted on August 12, 2024 by just2bruce | 2 comments

Geopolitics is having a great effect on ocean shipping today. Trade is where wars are fought now. It may have been true in the past as well, but the means and methods are changing rapidly.

I listened to this podcast featuring Jon Thompson, co-founder and commercial director of Ambrey, an international risk management company. He made several interesting points.

What’s become possible only recently is to combine, using digital infrastructure, information about many factors into an overview of the risk attendant on any voyage. Ambrey has been working on displaying info about piracy, missile attacks, weather, environmental zones, conflict zones, fuel availability and usage, and others, so it can be incorporated into contracts and insurance provisions, as well as used by captains and ship managers to plan voyages to reduce risk and increase profit.

Ambrey started out supplying onboard security to ships, intending to prevent piracy. But their vision has now expanded to all the hazards commercial ships face; assessing, rating, and providing insurance against them.

Another point he made is that the oceans, 70% of the earth, are becoming better understood and measured. Ocean shipping needs to take advantage of this increasing knowledge about who’s using them where and what conditions they are facing.

John Thompson’s view of the data, analytics, and AI involved, and the business aspects it affects, is most interesting. Take a listen.

John also has interesting views on what he and others look for in hiring new people.

Marcus Hand | Aug 08, 2024

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ship-operations/geopolitics-and-shipping-john-thompson-ambrey

2 Comments

Posted in Advanced Computing, analytics, Logistics, Shipping, Sustainability

Tagged AI in Maritime Risk Assessment, Commercial Shipping Hazards, Digital Infrastructure in Shipping, Environmental and Conflict Zones in Shipping, Global Trade Risks, Logistics, Maritime Data Analytics, Maritime Risk Management, ocean shipping, Ocean Shipping Trends 2024, Piracy and Shipping Security, Shipping and Geopolitical Tensions, Shipping Contracts and Insurance, supply chains

Red Sea ripples spread across trades

Posted on August 7, 2024 by just2bruce | 1 comment

The repercussions of the Red Sea crisis have been longer-lasting and more severe than many shippers thought. Shippers expected delays proportional to the extra sailing time. They may have expected proportional cost increases as well.

But they did not count on such factors as the extreme congestion in Singapore and in other ports. And in ports that have become pivotal, there are looming shortages of equipment such as chassis.

It looks like the disruptions will be with us awhile.

Trade besides containers is also in an upheaval. Sam Chambers’s recent Splash story points out that there is landside competition for capesize ocean shipments of coal.

Mongolia has always had big coal deposits, but moving the coal to international users was a problem. But new rail lines are making the country a viable source for China. China is also importing more from Russia. This chart from Drewry’s shows how the mix of countries China imports from has changed over the past few years.

The impact on shipping is that there will be less demand for capesize bulkers to import from Australia and Indonesia.

This is one more piece of evidence that global trade is radically changing. It will affect both shipowners and shippers in ways that are hard to foresee. Hold on to your hat!