Bunker Fuel

Clean Arctic Alliance calls on IMO member states to implement Arctic HFO ban

This comes following an International Maritime Organization (IMO) ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in Arctic waters that came into force on Monday (1 July.)

Published

7 months ago

July 2, 2024

Admin

Clean Arctic Alliance calls on IMO member states to implement Arctic HFO ban

An International Maritime Organization (IMO) ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Arctic waters came into force on Monday (1 July.)

The Clean Arctic Alliance called on IMO member states, particularly Arctic coastal countries, to implement the Arctic HFO ban and enforce it fully with immediate effect – without resorting to loopholes.

The Alliance is also calling on the IMO to extend the area covered by the ban to include all Arctic waters north of 60oN, and to enact regulation to reduce black carbon emissions from shipping, which would help reverse the impacts of climate warming in the Arctic, through the use of cleaner fuels and diesel particulate filters. Recent Arctic Council studies of ship activity in the Arctic have shown an increase of 37 percent between 2013 and 2023 and a 111 percent increase in total distance travelled over the same time period.

In recent days, an Irish vessel, the Arklow Wind, was fined by authorities in Svalbard for carrying heavy fuel oil.

In Norwegian waters around the island archipelago of Svalbard the use and carriage of HFO has been banned since 2022, it has been forbidden to carry or use heavy fuel oil in territorial waters around the Arctic archipelago.

The Clean Arctic Alliance said the prohibition on use and carriage of polluting heavy fuel oil was agreed by the IMO in June 2021, but received criticism for including significant loopholes allowing countries to grant waivers, and for shipping companies to make use of exemptions for many vessels – meaning that the ban will only reach full speed in 2029.

Until then, HFO will no longer be allowed to be used or carried for use while sailing in Arctic waters, unless a ship has a protected fuel tank or has been issued with a waiver by an Arctic coastal nation – this leaves around 74% of Arctic shipping unaffected by the ban. Recent Arctic Council studies of ship activity in the Arctic have shown an increase of 37% between 2013 and 2023 and a 111 percent increase in total distance travelled over the same time period.

“Governments and NGOs fought long and hard to achieve the ban on the use and carriage of HFO in the Arctic – yet see that it will be half-implemented is quite simply not good enough”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance.”

“IMO Member States, especially Arctic coastal countries, must go farther than the IMO ban by implementing it in ways that truly protect the Arctic from HFO spills and black carbon emissions – and that means refusing to offer loopholes to the shipping industry.”

“In addition, by implementing strong HFO regulations, the IMO can significantly reduce the risk of HFO spills and also see co-benefits – reducing air pollution, and slowing down the impacts of climate warming on the Arctic”, said Prior.

“Combining better fuel choices today with the use of existing technology, ships operating in the Arctic would see black carbon or soot (a component of particulate matter) emissions reductions of more than 90%. As black carbon remains in the atmosphere for only a short period of time, if all shipping in the Arctic used lighter distillate fuels and installed diesel particulate filters – existing technology long used in land transport to reduce diesel fuel emissions – we would see rapid removal of a massive threat to Arctic sea ice – which is crucial for balancing the climate and weather in the Arctic and further afield.”

“Today, July 1st is an incredible opportunity for the shipping industry to demonstrate that it is willing to embrace a cleaner future”, added Prior. Instead of hiding behind the use of exemptions, shipping companies can switch to readily available, relatively cleaner fuels such as diesel or distillate marine fuels (e.g. DMA, DMZ) or to alternative forms of propulsion and install diesel particulate filters.”

“The use of scrubbers must be avoided – they are an excuse to keep using HFO, while transferring air pollution into marine pollution and moving to gas fossil fuels such as LNG simply replaces one potent short-lived but high impact climate pollutant – black carbon – with another – methane. Use of diesel fuel along with the installation of particulate filters or precipitators, as prescribed for other forms of transport, can reduce emissions of black carbon by more than 90 percent quickly and be a solid first step on route to decarbonisation,” concluded Prior.

Photo credit: Clean Arctic Alliance
Published: 2 July, 2024

Up Next

Argus Media: Canaries’ bio-marine fuel demand hit by ETS exemptions

Don't Miss

ENGINE on Fuel Switch Snapshot: Bio-blends at a hefty price tag

Bunker Fuel

Singapore confirms bunker spill from damaged shore fuel hose at Brani Regional Base

Authorities said about 23 metric tonnes had leaked from a damaged shore fuel hose used to refuel patrol craft at Selat Sengkir and no oil slicks observed.

Published

1 hour ago

February 7, 2025

Admin

Singapore authorities on Thursday (6 February) confirmed that a diesel oil leak was discovered at the Police Coast Guard (PCG) Brani Regional Base on 5 February, at around 11.40am (Singapore Time).

The leak was eventually isolated at about 3.40pm.

“About 23 metric tonnes had leaked from a damaged shore fuel hose used to refuel patrol craft at Selat Sengkir,” said Singapore Police Force, Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) and National Environment Agency (NEA) in a joint statement.

PCG and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore have deployed patrol craft and spill response resources to clean up small patches of light oil sheens observed in our southern waters.

Contractors have also been activated to support the operation. There are no oil slicks observed.

Navigational traffic in the area is not affected. There is no impact to operations in the Port of Singapore.

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 7 February, 2025

LNG Bunkering

LNG bunkering at Port of Barcelona increases by 60.5% on year in 2024

Port said 229,750 cubic metre of LNG were supplied at the port in 2024, achieving an increase of 60.5% compared to 2023 and a total of 491 LNG bunkering operations were carried out at the port.

Published

1 hour ago

February 7, 2025

Admin

LNG bunkering at Port of Barcelona increases by 60.5% on year in 2024

The Port of Barcelona on Wednesday (5 February) said 229,750 cubic metre (m³) of LNG were supplied at the port in 2024, achieving an increase of 60.5% compared to 2023.

The Port said the achievement placed Barcelona as the leading port in the state - with 40% of the total m³ of LNG supplied - and one of the first in Europe in LNG bunkering.

In 2024, a total of 491 LNG bunkering operations were carried out for ships, of which 402 were via tankers trucks, with 45,427 m³ supplied, and 89 were ship-to-ship (STS) transfers from barges, with 184,324 m³ delivered.

Of the 8,398 ship calls at the Port of Barcelona during 2024, 822 calls were from ships using LNG, about 10% of the total calls at the port.

The ships that have received LNG bunker fuel in Barcelona have been mainly cruises and ferries, reaching close to 23% and 19% of the calls of both types of ships and contributing to a reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of 20% for cruises and 18% for ferries.

The top cruise companies have incorporated LNG-powered ships into their fleets, a good number of which operate regularly in Barcelona. During 2024, a total of 1,664,712 cruise passengers (45.5%) passed through Barcelona on board an LNG-powered cruise ship.

The increase in bunker supply of 60.5% has been possible due to several factors:

the presence of the LNG supply barge based in the Haugesund port Knutsen, from the company Knutsen-Scale Gas,
the commitment of the shipping company Baleària to LNG, provided by several tanker trucks at the same time,
and the incorporation of new types of ships that use LNG in the port, notably car carriers. The Lake Herman ship, from Japanese shipping company MOL, was the first vehicle carrier to carry out LNG bunkering at the Port of Barcelona, followed by four more ships of the same service, to which two new ships have been added at the beginning of 2025.

During 2024, the fast ferry Margarita Salas, powered by dual LNG engines, was also added. Operated by Baleària, this ship began operating last June, connecting Barcelona with Mallorca and Menorca at high speed. This new connection reinforces the commitment to integrating LNG into passenger transport and significantly reduces the emissions generated on this route.

The Port of Barcelona said it will continue to facilitate the introduction of LNG with measures such as administrative simplification to facilitate the authorisation of LNG bunkering operations; and the availability of generic risk analyses to be able to expand these operations to other types of ships.

During 2025, new risk analyses will be carried out to allow the supply of LNG to container ships, for which the port has already received interest from supply operators.

Photo credit: Port of Barcelona
Published: 7 February, 2025

Shipping Corridor

Clear plan developed for Stockholm-Turku green shipping corridor

After a year of cooperation, Viking Line, Port of Turku and Ports of Stockholm said they have now laid a solid foundation for the green corridor project and developed a clear plan for a common way forward.

Published

1 hour ago

February 7, 2025

Admin

Clear plan developed for Stockholm-Turku green shipping corridor

Viking Line, Port of Turku and Ports of Stockholm on Thursday (6 February) said they have now laid a solid foundation for a green shipping corridor project and developed a clear plan for a common way forward.

This comes after working together for a year on the project which aims to establish a green, fossil-free shipping corridor between Stockholm and Turku.

On the anniversary on 6 February, the parties and a large number of invited stakeholders gathered for an open seminar in Turku, Finland. Results, experiences, challenges and opportunities were discussed based on the common goal of establishing a green maritime corridor between Stockholm and Turku by 2035.

Magdalena Bosson, CEO Ports of Stockholm, said: “We are very pleased with the cooperation and the work done during the first year.”

“We have been investing in onshore power supply infrastructure for ships for many years and Viking Line is one of the pioneers. Now we are further sharpening our goals together with the other parties to establish a fossil-free shipping corridor between Stockholm and Turku.”

Jan Hanses, CEO Viking Line, said: “We are proud to be part of this important co-operation project for a cleaner Baltic Sea. Our most significant investment so far is to offer all our passengers and freight customers biofuel for transport between Stockholm and Turku, reducing emissions for their journeys by 90%.”

“In addition, a possible battery installation and Elogrids, which reduces energy consumption, are important elements of our work in the coming years.”

Elogrids is a grid system installed on the ship's hull to reduce resistance and improve fuel efficiency. It optimises water flow and reduces turbulence, resulting in lower energy consumption.

Erik Söderholm, CEO Port of Turku, said: “A green shipping corridor gives us the opportunity to promote sustainable development and reduce the environmental impact of shipping.”

“During the past year, we have started more detailed planning of measures related to the green shipping corridor, such as updating our carbon footprint calculation and preparing for the development of charging stations for heavy traffic.”

During the first year, the parties have identified and prioritised the most important goals and measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in shipping.

A clear project plan with activities has been developed, including:

Viking Line

Pre-study of battery installation on Viking Grace and Viking Glory
Installing Elogrids on the vessels
Increase sales of biogas supplements for transport between Stockholm and Turku

Port of Turku

Study and pilot project for onshore power supply at the quay
Zero emissions from Viking Line vessels at berth
Guidelines and incentives for port operators for zero emissions
In collaboration with external actors, develop concepts that link the green shipping corridor with sustainable transport from and to the port on land
Opportunity for shipping companies to bunker sustainable fuels

Ports of Stockholm

Zero emissions from Viking Line vessels at the quayside
In collaboration with external actors, develop concepts that link the green shipping corridor with sustainable transport from and to the port on land
Opportunity for shipping companies to bunker fossil-free fuels

Photo credit: Ports of Stockholm
Published: 7 February, 2025