DNV Decarbonisation Insights: Speed up energy transition, shipping industry must move faster towards net zero goal
Classification society DNV gives an overview on highlights from its top leaders during DNV Singapore Energy Transition Conference, Gastech and CO2 Shipping and CCS Conference; turns spotlight on CCS technology.
Greater energy and transport industry collaboration, as well as the need to put in place “fossil disincentives” was the call from DNV’s Group President and CEO Remi Eriksen, setting the scene at the third DNV Singapore Energy Transition Conference (SETC) on 4 September, leading up to Gastech 2023.
Eriksen made it clear that “no major economy has moved fast enough” in the last 24 months if we are to have any hope of achieving what’s required in the Paris Agreement or getting to Net Zero by 2050.
He praised efforts in Southeast Asia to capitalise on its great potential for solar and wind power but cautioned that the region was going to be very dependent on coal for a long time to come.
Mr Eriksen called for more “policy choices” to put the environment first when it comes to investments in infrastructure and services in this region and everywhere.
Knowing that the world has to move from being 90% dependent of fossil fuels now to a situation where non-fossil fuels will account for 90% of our energy by 2050, means we have to speed up the energy transition.
He pointed out that this is not an insurmountable problem. The costs of renewables are coming down. But political leadership is needed. The hard to abate sectors of industry and transport have to be addressed, and that’s where DNV sees that carbon capture and storage (CCS) could play a key role.
Decisive decade for shipping
DNV Maritime CEO Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen speaking at SETC
Remi Eriksen was joined at SETC, before Gastech 2023 got underway, by an equally compelling call to action from DNV Maritime CEO Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, in what he described as the “decisive decade for shipping”.
“There is no time to waste. We must move faster,” Ørbeck-Nilssen addressed an audience of 300 industry professionals who attended the event in person, while many more following the conference online.
A key aspect of his presentation was the importance of curtailing energy consumption while advancing the process of decarbonisation and the adoption of cleaner, low-carbon fuel sources.
Mr Ørbeck-Nilssen urged maritime decision-makers “to leave no stone unturned” in the quest to decarbonise, advocating for the exploration of green shipping corridors and the revival of wind-powered vessels, reminiscent of the historical era of sailing ships.
SETC panel with Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria
DNV’s Regional Manager Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria was joined by Fortescue Energy’s Andrew Hoare and Berge Bulk’s Paolo Tonon, to echo the prevailing sentiment of urgency, while concurrently exploring and assessing decarbonisation technologies for a greener tomorrow in close cross-sector collaboration.
The united call from practically all SETC speakers was the urgent need to embark on this transformative journey together, optimizing the use of natural resources, and championing energy efficiency.
How CCS fits into the maritime decarbonisation mix
Martin Cartwright speaking at CO2 Shipping & CCS Conference Asia
What is required to deploy carbon capture and storage technology at scale was the central theme of the CO2 Shipping and CCS Conference, jointly organised by Riviera Maritime Media and DNV in conjunction with SETC on the eve of Gastech 2023.
DNV’s Business Director Gas Carriers & FSRU Martin Cartwright emphasised that while CCS has been discussed for decades, large-scale implementation is still in its infancy.
Currently only about 40 million tons of CO2 per year is being captured globally through CCS projects. However, the IEA and IPCC estimate that billions of tons will need to be captured annually by 2050 to reach net zero emissions.
Mr Cartwright noted the significant shortage of infrastructure and distribution challenges with storage sites scattered worldwide. Today there are only a handful of Liquified CO2 (LCO2) vessels operating to transport pure CO2 for the food and beverage industry.
The transportation of CO2 for the purpose of storage will require a massive investment in new vessels dedicated for this specific trade.
The first vessels for CCS purpose are already under construction and will be delivered in 2024, dedicated for the Northern Light project in Norway. In addition, this summer, the Greek owner Capital Maritime Group placed an order for two 22k LCO2/LPG/ammonia vessels at HMD in Korea.
Responding to a question about ordering low pressure CO2 ships and availability timelines, Mr Cartwright said the qualification of material suited for LCO2 is essential to cut cost for large LCO2 carriers.
DNV, together with Shell, Equinor, Total and Gassco, is addressing this, along with other challenges, with large CO2 carriers through the CETO (CO2 Efficient Transport via Ocean).
The CETO project is a large joint industry project (JIP) funded partly by the project partners and partly by a Norwegian governmental funding scheme dedicated to support the development of CCS technologies.
Mr Cartwright was equally clear that calls for converting existing LPG tankers were misguided, stating “we need new vessels to support this market which are designed for the specific properties of liquid CO2”.
See CO2 as a tradable commodity to catalyse fleet growth
Turning CO2 into a tradable commodity will help catalyse fleet growth, he said, as there are many who still regard CO2 as waste with no commercial value.
Returning to CCS, Mr Cartwright said the permanent storage of CO2 underground poses challenges. While oil companies do have decades of experience injecting and monitoring CO2 in depleted gas fields, there is still work to do on public perceptions of risk around large-scale storage.
James Laybourn speaking at CO2 Shipping & CCS Conference Asia
DNV Regional Sales Head of Sales, Energy Systems, James Laybourn, noted: “We are confident that there is large potential capacity for global storage of CO2 in depleted fields and saline aquifers. In each case, the potential site needs to undergo rigorous evaluation and testing to ensure that the site is suitable and safe for the permanent storage of CO2.”
Such assessment and verification processes are utilised to ensure that all key stakeholders can be confident of the storage site integrity during the CO2 injection process and also after the site is sealed.
Mr Laybourn emphasised that governments and companies are putting rigorous monitoring regimes in place to ensure safe, secure containment of injected CO2.
Could Singapore be a major hub in the CCS value chain?
DNV booth at Gastech
Speakers at the conference also discussed opportunities to develop regional CCS hubs, especially in Southeast Asia. This involves aggregating CO2 from multiple industrial facilities via ships to centralised injection sites – a model being pioneered in Northern Europe’s Northern Lights project.
Mr Laybourn explained that realising a CCS hub for Singapore would require the development of a full value chain, including pipelines, liquefaction plants, jetties, and CO2 carriers to get captured emissions to offshore storage sites. Singapore is seen at an advantage as sequestration sites are already being developed in the surrounding region.
“I think the value chain needs to consider two parts,” he said. “The first part is the development of the sequestration sites themselves.
“The second part is the infrastructure to capture and transport the CO2 to the field. All of these elements of the value chain need to be developed to support CCS in Singapore.
“The transport will depend on adequate shipping infrastructure and the regulatory framework to enable international transport of CO2”, Mr Laybourn advised.
Presenters also emphasised that cost is critical to ensure a commercially viable value chain. Government incentives like carbon pricing can be critical to spurring CCS given the high costs.
While carbon prices in Europe are approaching levels that make projects economically viable, carbon taxes in Asia remain far lower, and therefore greater efforts will be required to reduce the cost of the value chain such as sharing infrastructure between multiple sources (as a hub) and repurposing existing infrastructure.
Various regulatory drivers and policies are also pushing CCS forward. Mr Cartwright noted: “We need to focus on the areas where we are actually emitting the CO2.
“There are technologies and massive companies who are recording and reporting all the emissions of CO2 globally. We also see that areas with mature oil and gas industries in place are taking the lead, as it is much easier for them to capture CO2.”
Overall, the conference highlighted the scale of the challenge in ramping up CCS to meet climate goals.
Key next steps include building out shipping capabilities, aggregating infrastructure into hubs, proving storage site capacities, and enacting policies to improve project economics.
While CCS is not a silver bullet, the conference consensus was CCS and CO2 shipping will play an indispensable role in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors.
Important to tackle the ‘energy penalty’ to make CCS viable at sea
Besides the CCS endorsement in the Maritime Forecast to 2050, also at Gastech, Martin Cartwright presented results of a recent JIP for an LNG carrier which demonstrated that there is a robust business case for Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) as value chains and regulations develop.
The study determined that technology exists right now to effectively capture CO2 onboard an LNG carrier, indicating potential for application in other vessels.
The challenge is to manage the ‘energy penalty’ – the amount of fuel that must be dedicated to CCS for a fixed quantity of work output – so as to make CCS economically viable on board.
It also depends on a range of other factors, including the level of carbon tax applied in different regions, along with the costs involved in offloading CO2 for eventual permanent storage or utilisation.
To reach the industry target of net-zero, CCS for shipping must be applied in association with other decarbonisation measures, including energy efficiency and alternative low carbon fuels.
Singapore: Bunker fuel sales soar by 7.5% on year in June 2025
4.59 million mt of various marine fuel grades were delivered at the world’s largest bunkering port in June, up from 4.27 million mt recorded during the similar month in 2024, according to MPA.
Sales of marine fuel at Singapore port increased by 7.5% on year in June 2025, according to Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) data.
In total, 4.59 million metric tonnes (mt) (exact 4,594,700 mt) of various marine fuel grades were delivered at the world’s largest bunkering port in June, up from 4.27 million mt (4,274,900 mt) recorded during the similar month in 2024.
Deliveries of marine fuel oil, low sulphur fuel oil, ultra low sulphur fuel oil, marine gas oil and marine diesel oil in June (against on year) recorded respectively 1.70 million mt (+8.6% from 1.56 million mt), 2.31 million mt (-7.2% from 2.33 million mt), 1,900 mt (from zero), 4,500 mt (-88% from 8,000 mt) and zero (from zero).
Bio-blended variants of marine fuel oil, low sulphur fuel oil, ultra low sulphur fuel oil, marine gas oil and marine diesel oil in June (against on year) recorded respectively 38,800 mt (+671.7% from 2,500 mt), 114,300 mt (+97.9% from 45,400 mt), zero (from zero), zero (from zero) and zero (from zero). B100 biofuel bunkers, introduced in February this year, recorded 1,000 mt of deliveries in June.
LNG and methanol sales were respectively 55,400 mt (-7.8% from 51,700) and zero (from zero mt). There were no recorded sales of ammonia for the month and so far in 2025.
ITOCHU orders world’s first ammonia bunkering vessel for Singapore demonstration project
Company contracted Sasaki Shipbuilding to build the 5,000 m3 vessel and Izumi Steel Works to construct an ammonia tank plant that will be loaded onto the vessel, which is expected to be delivered in 2027.
ITOCHU Corporation (ITOCHU) on Monday (14 July) announced that it recently signed a shipbuilding contract for the construction of a 5,000 m3 ammonia bunkering vessel with Sasaki Shipbuilding.
The company also announced an agreement regarding the construction of an ammonia tank plant that will be loaded onto the vessel with Izumi Steel Works.
These agreements were signed by Clean Ammonia Bunkering Shipping Pte Ltd (CABS), a wholly owned Singapore-based specific purpose company of ITOCHU.
In relation to this, CABS has concluded a financing agreement with The Hiroshima Bank for financing a part of purchase price of the vessel.
The agreements were concluded to pursue the Demonstration Project for Bunkering Ammonia as Marine Fuel in Singapore adopted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan as part of the Global South Future-oriented Co-Creation Project (large-scale demonstration in ASEAN member states).
Going forward, with an eye toward the demonstration of ammonia bunkering in Singapore after building the world’s first newbuilding ammonia bunkering vessel, ITOCHU said efforts will be made to facilitate concrete discussions with the maritime stakeholders, including the port authority in Singapore, the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), and the fuel producers, while obtaining support from the Japanese Government.
The vessel is to be flagged under the Singapore Registry and is expected to be delivered in September 2027.
ITOCHU will establish a safe offshore bunkering operation of ammonia as marine fuel by way of ship-to-ship transfer through the development and construction of the vessel and demonstration.
Then, by utilising the vessel, ITOCHU will establish connection between the first movers in clean ammonia production and the first movers in the ammonia-fueled vessels and secure initial demand for ammonia as marine fuel, aiming at the commercialisation of ammonia bunkering business in Singapore and expansion of similar business model to major maritime transportation points around the world, including Spain (Strait of Gibraltar), Egypt (Suez Canal) and Japan.
Photo credit: ITOCHU Corporation Published: 15 July 2025
Chimbusco Pan Nation delivers first B30-MGO bio bunker fuel blend supply in Hong Kong
The supply, delivered to Orient Overseas Container Line, represents the first time OOCL has received this fuel blend in the region; operation also included a simultaneous delivery of B30-HSFO.
Hong Kong-based marine fuel oil supplier Chimbusco Pan Nation Petro-Chemical (CPN) on Friday (11 July) announced the first-ever delivery of a B30-Marine Gasoil (B30-MGO) which consists of 30% biodiesel and 70% Marine Gasoil (MGO), in Hong Kong.
The supply, delivered to Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), represents the first time OOCL has received this fuel blend in the region.
In addition to the B30-MGO, this operation included a simultaneous delivery of B30-High Sulphur Marine Fuel Oil.
“This delivery, completed on 11 July, solidifies CPN’s leadership in advancing green fuel solutions in East Asia. Being the first bunker supplier in the region capable of providing all grades of ISCC-EU Certified marine biofuel, including marine fuel and gas oil, CPN demonstrates its commitment to supporting the maritime industry’s transition to sustainable energy,” the company said on its website.
Photo credit: Chimbusco Pan Nation Petro-Chemical Published: 15 July, 2025