LNG 将来的燃料
2010.04.16
1. 贸易风周刊 3月17日 因环保和绿色退税等原因将令更多船东订造以天然气为燃料的新船.业者估计到 2013年将有50艘以上用 LNG为燃料的船在營运中,同时也可预料到会有更多这类新船的订单.
挪威公司 Sea-Cargo 己向印度 Bharati 造船厂订造 4条5,600-dwt MPP (多用途船), 当第一条于2012年正月交船时将为世界笫一艘LNG 商船. (图)
LNG fuel starts to make inroads
Environmental factors and green taxation are nudging more owners to order LNG-fuelled newbuildings.
By 2013, the world will have more than 50 LNG-fuelled vessels in operation with what is widely expected to be a growing orderbook in prospect.
Figures unveiled at the LNG Fuel for Shipping conference in London last month by Per Magne Einang, who is research director at the Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (Marintek), show that at the start of this year the world LNG-fuelled fleet stood at 39 ships — 26 in operation, 13 under construction and around 15 at the planning stage.
But a few weeks on, and Einang admits the list is already out of date, with several more newbuildings having being firmed up and further projects on the drawing board.
The drivers are clear. From 2015, stricter nitrogen-oxide (NOx) and sulphur-oxide (SOx) emission controls for ships come into force under the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s Marpol convention. Aside from the global requirements, vessels must comply with even tougher rules when operating in Emission Control Areas (ECAs). An ECA is already enforced for the Baltic and North Sea. The east and west US coasts will become ECAs from next year.
Owners are faced with some stark choices. To comply with the new rules they must either install exhaust-gas scrubbers to cut emissions from their vessels, opt to use low-sulphur fuel oil or make the switch to using LNG to drive their ships.
Construction costs for LNG-fuelled vessels are higher. Einang has calculated that depending on the type of vessel this is likely to stack up as an additional 8% to 15% on the final yard bill. This will be offset against lower operating costs and while the price of the LNG will need to be factored in, he estimates a payback time on the additional investment outlay of between five to 15 years.
With a local ECA already in place and a home-grown tax incentive scheme, it is no surprise that the bulk of the vessels to date have been ordered by Norwegian companies. Norway’s NOx Fund has lured in ferry-operating companies like Fjord 1, Torgatten Nord and Tide Sjo, which have ordered car and passenger vessels in Norway, Poland and France. Offshore-vessel owners Eidesvik, Solstad and Island Offshore have also taken the plunge with newbuildings for their fleets. The NOx Fund weighs in heavily to support 50% to 80% of the cost from day one, Einang says.
Confidence in the sector appears to be growing as vessels are put into service and companies become familiar with operations. Fjord 1 put its 212-car ferry Bergensfjord (built 2006) into operation in January 2007. It berths at the Bergen-based LNG-filling station to refuel every third night. The ship’s two 125-cbm bunker tanks are filled up in just two hours from the two 500-cbm shore-based tanks.
Investment by LNG-carrier owners remains limited. OAS Knutsen Shipping was first out of the traps with its miniature 1,100-cbm Pioneer Knutsen (built 2004), which trades around the Norwegian coast. Anthony Veder’s 7,500-cbm Coral Methane (built 2009) offers a larger alternative and the Dutch owner has just placed an order for a 15,600-cbm vessel for delivery at the end of 2012. Officials for IM Skaugen have in the past hinted that they might have opted for LNG to fuel the company’s fleet of multigas carriers it is building in China. However, these ships are also expected to offer useful bunkering and small LNG-delivery services as the business develops.
But there are also signs that interest in the sector is growing outside the tax-incentivised Norwegian market. Teekay is actively pioneering the development of a North Sea shuttle tanker fuelled by LNG and a design for a similar vessel is being pursued in South Korea. There are rumours afoot that a containership operator is considering placing a slew of orders that would see a boxship route switch to LNG fuelling.
The sector is also attracting the attention of those with designs on far larger vessels. Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has taken the concept to another level by unveiling its LNG-fuelled VLCC design, “Triality”. Previously, market interest has centred on smaller ships with four-stroke engines that are already running on LNG, Einang says. But now the industry is seeing a movement to bigger ships using two-stroke engines.
In addition to the interest from shipowners and charterers, LNG-terminal operators in Northern Europe are also starting to smell a new business opportunity. Upcoming Dutch facility Gate, Belgium’s existing terminal at
Zeebrugge and Poland’s new Swinoujscie-based import plant, which will be operational in 2014, are looking at incorporating LNG bunkering into their services.
By Lucy Hine London, 16 Mar 11
2. 海事日记 2010年10月份 受到即将生效 (2012年8 月)之北美排气管理法 (ECA) 船东们唯一可做的是改用低硫磺燃油或天然气 LNG 为船用燃料.对此 DNV 船级社正在研发和推行 LNG 可用方式.
Life is all about choices. One of the choice is vessel operation need to make now (if they have not already) is how they intend to comply with operating in the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) by August 2012.
The choice for some will be to switch from burning heavy fuel oil to ultra low sulfur diesel or to install and operate exhaust gas scrubbers when they enter the ECA. Another option being seriously considered is burning LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) as marine fuel.
The idea of ECA is not going away, in the case of Baltic Sea, which has been an ECA since 2005 and more ECAs will come. The next one could well be the U.S. Caribbean, which IMO’s MEPC was set to consider early in 2011.
Using LNG as marine fuel is nothing new. The technology is well proven. LNG carriers have been burning boil-off gas as fuel in steaming turbine-based propulsion plants for 40 years and more recently in dual fuel engines. When natural gas is cooled to minus 161 degrees C it becomes a clear, colorless, odorless liquid. Since LNG tankers rely on insulation rather than refrigeration to keep their cargo refrigerated, a small percentage will “boil-off.”
From an economic and environmental standpoint, LNG is a winner. It is less than half the price of Heavy fuel oil and less than one third of marine diesel and, as compared with HFO, it produces about 20 to 25% less CO2, reduces NOx by 85 to 90% and nearly cuts out all Sox and PM emissions.
Norwegian operator Fjord1 recently ordered six gas-fueled ferry for the West coast of Norway. Beyond ferries, and tug boats, classification societies are working with shipbuilders and naval architects on other LNG-fuelled vessel types.
Not counting LNG carriers, there are 21 vessels that use LNG as fuel, all of which are operating under Norwegian flag and classed by DNV.
DNV believes its rules for operating vessels on LNG fuel will likely be implemented into IMO’s new rules for LNG propulsion, the ICF Code, by 2012.
Marine Log – October 2010
