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SMTC 2021: Political will and time the missing components from shipping’s transition away from fossil fuels

Dr Tristan Smith, Lead Author for IMO’s 3rd and Author of the 4th Greenhouse Gas Study, shares his thoughts on alternative marine fuels with Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times.
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Dr Tristan Smith

The following interview arranged by Informa Connect is part of pre-event coverage for the upcoming Singapore Maritime Technology Conference 2021 (SMTC 2021), where Manifold Times is an official media partner. Readers can find out more about the virtual event by clicking on the link here. 

The only obstacles in the path of shipping’s transition away from fossil fuels now rests in the hands of governments and time, according to the Lead Author of the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s 3rd and Author of the 4th Greenhouse Gas Study.

Dr Tristan Smith, a Reader at University College London, shared his thoughts in a recent interview with Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times when asked of the challenges for alternative bunker fuels to be successfully used by the shipping industry.

“There is no technical challenge that we are aware of that makes a number of candidate fuels impossible to use. The only missing components for shipping’s transition away from fossil fuel use is political will and time,” he states.

“The two are in competition – the longer it takes for political will to formulate, the less time there will be for shipping’s transition.”

According to Dr Smith, who is also Head – Maritime Workstream at World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), climate change is already occurring with devastating impacts – where vulnerable countries such as Bangladesh and other island nations are expected to be lost over the coming three decades of the economic life of today’s newbuildings.

“The political will is growing but insufficiently fast to leave sectors like shipping enough time to change as smoothly as would be desirable,” he notes.

“The consequence of political will growing too slowly is that it is then more likely that collective failure and indecision by governments at venues like the IMO will mean shipping has only a very short period (e.g. a decade) to transition from fossil fuels to a completely new energy system.

“Predicated on the fact that in any analysis to achieve the IMO’s 2050 goals, a significant move away from fossil fuel use needs to start before the end of this decade and see very rapid growth of zero carbon energy/fuel use during the 2030s.

“This urgency will be required if no significant progress has been made by the end of this decade, or alternatively we will all experience much more significant, deeper, and longer lasting climate related impacts and damage to ecosystems and society.”

Dr Smith believes that without policy that can stimulate the deployment and of shipping’s zero carbon energy/fuels by the middle of this decade, we will make it more difficult for companies to adapt to new business models, energy products, operations and skills.

“Significant turbulence and disruption will likely result and many companies will be likely to foreclose,” he expects.

“This is all avoidable, it just requires engagement in the issue and encouragement of governments and IMO to place avoidance of dangerous climate change at the heart of their decision making process.”

Dr Smith, meanwhile, forecasts hydrogen-based material to be the bunker fuel of the future due to its benefits.

“There are a number of candidate fuels which on paper can have zero GHG emissions. But I think shipping’s solution will be a fuel which is sustainable (in all senses of the word) and scalable (e.g. able to be produced in the volumes required to get to 2-300 million tonnes of fuel oil equivalent as per today’s consumption),” he notes.

“The scalability and sustainability requirements make it very challenging, if not impossible, for any fuel with carbon to be competitive to those fuels which are derived more directly from hydrogen production e.g. hydrogen, or the simpler synthesised products like ammonia.

“Fuels like methanol require a source of carbon which can either be a biomass derived source of carbon, or it will have to be ‘sucked’ from the atmosphere. If it is just CO2 captured from a point source, then either it won’t be sustainable (e.g. it will come from a fossil combustion process), or it won’t be scalable.

“And if the CO2 has to be extracted from the atmosphere, it is difficult at this point in time to see that that could be cost-competitive to other processes/fuels.”

Moving forward, though regulation for shipping GHG emissions is currently focused on tank-to-wake emissions calculations (EEDI, EEXI, CII) Dr Smith believes using a well-to-wake approach to measure emissions to be more prudent in the long term.

This is because taking a well-to-wake perspective to calculate emissions enables maritime firms to communicate to clients, financiers, and stakeholders how risks associated with climate change are being managed.

Further, it allows firms to be ready for when regulation and market forces increasingly come in to control emissions on a lifecycle / well-to-wake basis.

“For the longer term all the fuels that shipping will need to move towards as it moves away from using fossil fuels, can have significant upstream GHG emissions,” explains Dr Smith.

“It remains unclear as to whether it will be IMO that regulates to control upstream emissions, national governments, the market or all of these actors, but this will be necessary because in many cases the lower cost fuels are those with the highest upstream emissions which make regulation on operational emissions alone very unlikely to result in addressing the fundamental problem – which is the continued increase in CO2 (and other GHG) emissions in the atmosphere.”

Note: Dr Tristan Smith is a panellist at the Industry Think Tank: Longer Term GHG Implications and Exploring Game Changing Technologies that would Address Emission Targets virtual roundtable scheduled to take place on Tuesday (20 April) at 18:25 – 19:10 SGT as part of SMTC 2021.

 

Photo credit: University College London
Published: 16 April, 2021Dr

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Emissions reporting

StormGeo and OceanScore link emissions data, compliance workflows

Cooperation combines StormGeo’s expertise in operational vessel and emissions data with OceanScore’s expertise in emissions compliance workflows across EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime and UK ETS requirements.
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June 4, 2026

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StormGeo and OceanScore link emissions data, compliance workflows

Weather intelligence and decision support solutions provider StormGeo and Hamburg-based technology platform OceanScore on Wednesday (3 June) said they have deepened their ongoing cooperation through the signing of a collaboration agreement during Posidonia 2026 in Athens on 2 June.

The cooperation combines StormGeo’s expertise in operational vessel and emissions data with OceanScore’s expertise in emissions compliance workflows across EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime and upcoming UK ETS requirements.

Together, the companies aim to help shipping companies seamlessly navigate increasing regulatory complexity more efficiently — from emissions reporting and data validation to compliance exposure management, pooling and financial settlement.

As emissions regulation becomes an increasingly important part of commercial shipping operations, the need for reliable operational data and streamlined compliance processes continues to grow. The cooperation between StormGeo and OceanScore is designed to support shipping companies with more connected, transparent and actionable processes across operational and commercial teams.

“From the outside, companies like StormGeo and OceanScore may sometimes be perceived as competitors because both operate around emissions and compliance workflows,” said Albrecht Grell, Managing Director at OceanScore. 

“But in reality, the industry increasingly needs both perspectives working together: trusted operational emissions data on one side and commercial compliance execution on the other. Our cooperation reflects that shipping companies are no longer looking for isolated solutions — they need connected processes, automated across different systems and reliable decision-making throughout the full compliance chain.”

By connecting validated operational emissions data with commercial compliance management, the cooperation supports workflows across:

  • emissions reporting and validation 
  • compliance management across EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime and upcoming UK ETS requirements
  • exposure visibility and cost transparency
  • pooling, settlement and financial processes 

The cooperation also aims to improve commercial transparency and coordination across operational and commercial stakeholders.

“StormGeo plays a central role in helping shipping companies turn operational vessel and emissions data into trusted, decision-ready insights,” said Espen Martinsen, Chief Commercial Officer at StormGeo. 

“As emissions regulations become more complex, this data is essential for transparent and efficient compliance management. By working with OceanScore, we can help customers connect StormGeo’s validated operational data with commercial compliance processes, creating a more integrated and practical approach to emissions management.”

The signing ceremony took place at the StormGeo booth during Posidonia 2026 in Athens and was attended by representatives from both companies.

Both companies expect the cooperation to continue evolving alongside upcoming regulatory developments, including FuelEU Maritime, EU ETS, the upcoming UK ETS and future emissions-related frameworks affecting global shipping.

 

Photo credit: StormGeo
Published: 4 June, 2026

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Methanol

Seaspan and Hapag-Lloyd complete first of five methanol vessel retrofit

Following “Seaspan Yangtze”, the remaining vessels planned for retrofit under the methanol retrofit programme are “Seaspan Amazon”, “Seaspan Ganges”, “Seaspan Thames”, and “Seaspan Zambezi”.
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Seaspan and Hapag-Lloyd complete first of five methanol vessel retrofit

Seaspan Corporation (Seaspan) and Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday (3 June) announced the successful completion of the first of the five vessel conversions under their methanol retrofit programme with the delivery of Seaspan Yangtze.

From the early SAVER (Seaspan Action for Vessel Energy Reduction) programme to today’s CleanBlue initiative, Seaspan has committed over USD 230 USD million across 86 vessels, executing more than 550 efficiency and retrofit projects.

Following Seaspan Yangtze, the remaining vessels planned for retrofit under the programme are Seaspan Amazon, Seaspan Ganges, Seaspan Thames, and Seaspan Zambezi. Each retrofit is expected to reduce well-to-wake CO₂e emissions by approximately 30,000 to 50,000 metric tonnes per vessel annually when operating on low-carbon methanol, while also extending vessel lifespan and enhancing fuel flexibility.

“Decarbonisation is not just about building the fleet of tomorrow, it is also about unlocking the full potential of the fleet we have today. Retrofitting and upgrades on existing fleets play a practical, immediate, and economical role in accelerating shipping’s decarbonization journey,” said Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan. 

“Project SAVER CleanBlue highlights Seaspan’s strong customer partnerships, deep technical expertise, and unique platform integrated with JV partners, such as WattSpan Maritime Technology, in executing complex and large-scale retrofit projects.”

“The successful conversion of the Seaspan Yangtze together with the planned retrofit of its four sister vessels is another important step on our ambitious path towards net-zero fleet operations by 2045,” said Silke Lehmköster, Managing Director, Fleet, Hapag-Lloyd. 

“Together with Seaspan, we are demonstrating that retrofitting existing vessels for low-carbon methanol can be a practical way to reduce emissions in shipping.”

 

Photo credit: Seaspan
Published: 4 June, 2026

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LNG Bunkering

MOL and Seaspan sign annual LNG bunkering deal for car carriers in Port of Vancouver

MOL says North America is one of the key trade lanes for car carriers, and with recent delivery of new LNG-fuelled vessels, securing a stable LNG fuel supply in the area has become increasingly important.
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May 22, 2026

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MOL and Seaspan sign annual LNG bunkering deal for car carriers in Port of Vancouver

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) on Thursday  (21 May) announced that MOL and Seaspan Energy have signed the first annual contract for LNG bunkering for car carriers at the Port of Vancouver, Canada. 

On 29 April, MOL completed the first LNG bunkering under this contract. Since completing the first LNG bunkering on the West Coast of North America on 1 March 2025 – the first by a Japanese shipping company – MOL has conducted several additional LNG bunkering operations in the region. 

North America is one of the key trade lanes for car carriers, and with the recent delivery of new LNG-fuelled vessels, securing a stable LNG fuel supply in the area has become increasingly important. This contract underscores the company’s commitment to establishing a stable and seamless regional LNG fuel procurement framework.

Seaspan expanded its LNG bunkering capabilities in 2026 from Vancouver to Long Beach, California, and continues to proactively support the growth of a clean marine supply chain.

Seaspan Energy President Harly Penner, said: “The relationship between Seaspan Energy and MOL is highly valued. MOL was the first car carrier operator to receive LNG bunkering services in the Port of Vancouver, and we are proud to continue supporting their operations in Vancouver through this annual LNG bunkering agreement. 

“This partnership reflects our shared commitment to advancing lower-emission marine transportation and supporting the industry’s transition toward net-zero GHG emissions.”

Marine Fuel GX Division General Manager Daisuke Fujihashi, said: “We are very pleased to further strengthen our partnership with Seaspan Energy through this contract for LNG fuel procurement. 

“Looking ahead, we will continue to deepen our collaboration with Seaspan Energy in the field of clean fuels, including bio LNG, and remain committed to offering our customers more pathways toward cleaner supply chains.”

 

Photo credit: MOL
Published: 22 May, 2026

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