Alternative Fuels

Filling the gap in liability and compensation for alternative bunker fuel spills

Joel Ong recently wrote a blog post highlighting emerging and critical liability and compensation gaps concerning spills or leaks of alternative bunker fuels and explored possible solutions to address them.

Published

10 months ago

October 22, 2025

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With the rise in the use of alternative fuels as bunker fuels in the shipping industry, Joel Ong, presently a LLM Candidate at Harvard Law School, recently wrote a blog post highlighting liability and compensation gaps concerning spills or leaks of these fuels and explored possible solutions to address them.

The following is a summary of the original post from international law blog CIL Dialogues:

The shipping industry is betting big on alternative fuels for its energy transition. Based on the 2024 orderbook, over 1700 vessels have been ordered with alternative fuel propulsion capabilities (with a more than 50% increase in 2024).

These ‘future fuels’, which serve as alternatives to fossil-fuels, are critical if the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is to deliver on its 2023 GHG Strategy of reaching net‑zero GHG international shipping emissions ‘by or around 2050.’ But using these fuels poses a new challenge: the main IMO liability conventions that protected coastal States and affected parties from oil spills do not adequately protect them against spills or leaks of alternative fuels as these new substances behave very differently compared to fossil fuels.

With the rise in alternative fuels being transported both as cargo and used as bunker fuel, the present issues are threefold: (1) existing IMO liability conventions that are in force do not apply to alternative fuels, (2) the HNS Convention is not in force, and (3) even if it were in force, and although alternative fuels are often defined as HNS falling within the HNS Convention, the Convention only applies if they are transported as cargo, but not as bunker fuel. Alternative fuels such as hydrogen, biodiesel, methanol, ammonia, or liquefied natural gas (LNG) are not persistent fossil-fuel oils (Article 1(5), 1992 CLC) within the meaning of “oil” in existing conventions (i.e. they are, as their name suggests, non-oil in nature to address climate change).

The result is an incoherent patchwork of regulations applicable to these new alternative fuels, which would result in lack of liability and compensation in the event of an accident or disaster, potentially undermining the industry and IMO’s decarbonisation efforts.

The ongoing review by the IMO Legal Committee is a critical and promising opportunity to proactively fill these emerging liability gaps. However, it must act swiftly and draw lessons from the past. By the time substantive discussions on liability for alternative fuels begin, new fuels and vessel types will likely be in operational trials or early commercial deployment.

A serious incident involving a new alternative fuel—absent a fit-for-purpose and adequate liability and compensation framework—could undermine public confidence and potentially derail the long-term prospects of that decarbonisation option altogether. For these reasons, this issue should be given the utmost priority and attention by the IMO and the shipping community and addressed as soon as practicably possible.

This blog post was written prior to the author’s study in the U.S. on 31 July 2025 and is part of the conference paper the author presented at the CIL-CLIMA Conference on the Decarbonization of Shipping and Alternative Fuels and is supported by the MPA-CIL Oceans Governance Research Programme funded by the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI-2023-MA-03).

Note: The original blog post can be read here.

Photo credit: Joel Ong
Published: 22 October, 2025

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Japan’s first WinGD methanol dual-fuel marine engine passes FAT at MITSUI E&S

Company successfully completed the Factory Acceptance Test of the DU-WinGD 6X82DF-M-1.0 LP-SCR, the first methanol dual-fuel WinGD large marine engine built in Japan.

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MITSUI E&S completes FAT of Japan's first WinGD methanol dual-fuel engine

MITSUI E&S on Monday (3 August) announced that Mitsui E&S DU, a group company of MITSUI E&S, has successfully completed the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) of the DU-WinGD 6X82DF-M-1.0 LP-SCR, the first methanol dual-fuel WinGD large marine engine built in Japan.

The engine is also the first WinGD large marine engine manufactured at MITSUI E&S Tamano Works.

“The engine is scheduled to be installed on the first vessel in a series of four vessels being built for a domestic shipowner,” the company said on its website.

By utilising green methanol as fuel, it will contribute to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping operations.

“To meet the expected increase in marine engine demand under the Japanese government’s Shipbuilding Industry Revitalisation Roadmap, the MITSUI E&S Group is working to enhance production efficiency for large marine engines through integrated operation at MITSUI E&S Tamano and Mitsui E&S DU Aioi,” the company added.

Photo credit: MITSUI E&S
Published: 4 August, 2026

Alternative Fuels

Quadrise and Licella amend JDA to advance low-carbon marine fuel testing

Companies have been collaborating since March 2025 on the use of Licella’s bio-oil produced by HTL technology as a potential cost-effective feedstock for Quadrise’s bioMSAR™ and bioMSAR Zero™ fuels.

Published

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Quadrise, a low emissions fuels and biofuel developer, recently announced an amendment to the Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Australian-based Licella Holdings (Licella).

Licella is a global technology pioneer delivering scalable, low-cost and high-value fossil replacement solutions. Its proprietary Cat-HTR™ hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL” technology efficiently converts abundant biomass residues and biowastes, including wood and agricultural waste, into high-quality, sustainable bio-oil that can be blended or refined into low-carbon liquid fuels.

“HTL is globally recognised as one of the most promising pathways for producing sustainable fuels for hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping, with organisations highlighting its potential to deliver low-carbon bio-oils at the scale the maritime sector requires,” Quadrise said.

Under the JDA entered into on 26 March 2025, Quadrise and Licella have been collaborating and seeking, inter alia, to progress the use of Licella’s bio-oil produced by HTL technology as a potential cost-effective feedstock for the Company’s bioMSAR™ and bioMSAR Zero™ fuels.

Under the JDA, pursuant to which lab testing has been undertaken in Australia and the UK, the parties have jointly developed a deeper understanding of the technological advancements needed to supply sustainable HTL-derived bio-oils to the maritime sector.

As a result, and prior to diesel engine testing, the Amended JDA now sets out a non-binding but more specific development focus, with an updated time schedule for the joint testing of the parties’ respective fuel technologies, with Licella providing the scalable HTL bio-oil production expertise and Quadrise providing maritime market access and fuel experience.

Upon successful completion of final lab tests on refined Licella HTL bio-oils in H2 2026, initial marine fuel diesel engine pilot tests are planned by the parties, after which Quadrise and Licella will seek to undertake the larger scale, third-party engine testing required to move to commercial vessel tests.

Photo credit: Scott Graham
Published: 4 August, 2026

Methanol

CMA CGM names new 15,000 TEU methanol-powered vessel “ROI ARTHUR”

Joining the company’s REX2 service, the ship will strengthen its fleet of new-generation vessels designed to support the decarbonisation of shipping.

Published

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French shipping giant CMA CGM on Monday (3 August) said its new 15,000 TEU methanol-powered vessel, CMA CGM ROI ARTHUR, has officially been named and is ready to begin its journey at sea.

Joining the company’s REX2 service, the ship will strengthen its fleet of new-generation vessels designed to support the decarbonisation of shipping.

“Powered by methanol, she contributes to reducing atmospheric emissions and advancing the energy transition of our industry,” the company said in a social media post.

The vessel was welcomed by her Master, Captain Roman DIDENKO, and her godmother, Ms. Sun Lijun, Vice Chairman of Tianjin Bridge Welding Materials Group Co., Ltd. and Vice President of the Tianjin Women Entrepreneurs Association.

In January, the company announced the arrival in its fleet of its 400th owned vessel, the CMA CGM MONTE CRISTO, the first in a series of six methanol container ships.

The Group is preparing to operate, by 2031, around 200 dual-fuel LNG and methanol container ships that can be powered with low-carbon energy.

Photo credit: CMA CGM
Published: 4 August, 2026