The Sustainable Marine Fuel Confidence Index (SMF Confidence Index), launched on Thursday (18 January) placed LNG-bio methane at the top spot when it comes to the confidence of shipping and marine fuel industry stakeholders in alternative bunker fuels. 

Biodiesel came in second place, followed by LNG-e methane, green methanol, green hydrogen and green ammonia. 

The inaugural Index was created at the Sustainable Marine Fuel Fest (SMF Fest), organised by uncommon conferences and ship.energy, which took place on 15 to 16 November 2023 in Valencia.

The ‘by industry for industry’ event brought together stakeholders from across the marine fuel value chain who stress tested and then populated the SMF Confidence Index, which is based on a framework developed by SMF Fest industry partners who represent companies that are interested in, and responsible for, the delivery of shipping’s energy transition. 

They include technology providers Wärtsilä and GTT, class society Bureau Veritas, industry association The Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel, marine energy supplier Peninsula and shipowner Hapag-Lloyd.

Industry partner GTT, said: “At GTT we acknowledge the importance of certainty for our customers, and we believe this ‘here and now’ Confidence Index provides a tangible basis for their future fuelling strategy.”

“It’s also encouraging to see the high confidence levels in bio and synthetic LNG as important fuels in shipping’s decarbonisation journey.”

Ship.energy said where SMF Confidence Index stands apart from other industry surveys is that it cuts through some of the ‘decarbonisation hype’ and offers a pragmatic, realistic assessment by industry of the availability and accessibility of the required tools for decarbonisation at a given moment in time.

This first Index provides a baseline from which to chart and compare changes in industry confidence in shipping’s energy transition according to four key criteria (Technology, Infrastructure, Commercial and Environmental Credentials) and using five deep sea vessel segments: containerships, dry cargo, gas carriers, passenger vessels and tankers. These criteria/vessel segments are considered in relation to the use of 12 marine fuels (including grey/blue/green variants).

Participants at SMF Fest were representatives of a broad cross-section of industry stakeholders, all of which have a sharp focus on decarbonisation and sustainability within their respective corporate strategies. The Index’s confidence span ranged from ‘not at all confident’ to ‘very confident’ and a key takeaway from the exercise was that the contributors to the index are cautious about the commercial and operational readiness of most of the new fuels and their perception is that there are currently significant gaps and challenges to be resolved in the development of these fuels across one or more of the criteria used for their assessment.

The first SMF Confidence Index is a working document. The decarbonisation landscape is continually evolving – as are the responses of industry stakeholders to it – and the Index will reflect these changes. When we refresh the Index, the goal is to investigate what has moved the needle for a particular fuel(s) and apply those learnings to other fuels, thereby speeding up the energy transition, and moving on from the ‘wait and see’ approach which is currently being taken by many shipowners. 

Contributors will revisit its findings in mid-2024 and the Index will be fully updated at the next SMF Fest which will take place in the autumn at a location soon to be announced.

The Sustainable Marine Fuel Confidence Index – Overview

Note: The Sustainable Marine Fuel Confidence Index Report and detailed breakdowns of fuels measured against vessel segments and against key criteria can be accessed here

Photo credit: ship.energy
Published: 22 January, 2024