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LNG Bunkering

DNV GL: FuelBoss pushes digitalization of bunkering services

DNV GL interviews bunker supplier Gasum on its first experience using FuelBoss, a digital bunkering platform for LNG, and how it has improved customer experience.

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Classification Society DNV GL on Monday (27 July) published an interview conducted with Jacob Granqvist, Sales Director at Gasum, on the benefits liquified natural gas (LNG) digital bunker sales platform FuelBoss holds for them and their customers.

With the launch of FuelBoss, bunker operators now have the capability to offer their services to their customers in digital form via a common industry platform. Gasum shares insights on their first experiences and the benefits FuelBoss holds for them and their customers.

Jacob Granqvist joined Gasum in 2019 and is heading the maritime sales organization, whose focus is to provide cleaner energy to the maritime industry. He is a master mariner and holds a degree in maritime law. With more than 20 years of experience in the maritime sector, he started his career at sea as an apprentice. When switching to shore, he first became involved in the energy business at Neste, a Finnish oil company. Amongst other functions, he headed the maritime fuels and services business there.

DNV GL: What were Gasum’s reasons for joining FuelBoss?

Granqvist: We have three strategic pillars at Gasum’s maritime business. One is to expand our business geographically. A second is to develop customer solutions and the third is to promote our maritime brand. FuelBoss relates to our second strategic pillar. One big strategic goal of our maritime solutions is the digitalization of the maritime business at Gasum. FuelBoss provides us with a digital platform for LNG that we can utilize and don’t need to invent ourselves. We also see the value that DNV GL has been involved in the development process.

DNV GL: Why did you perceive DNV GL as a facilitator so beneficial?

Granqvist: The strong organization that is behind the system. DNV GL has a high reputation in the market. DNV GL brings credibility to such a system. If anyone can set up such a universal system, with more than just a company application, I think it is DNV GL with its integrity and expertise. I don’t think that we would have so much leverage with Gasum building such a platform, nor would our competitors use it. The bunker operations checklists, the time reports and in the future possible quality reports from the delivered gas are things we find valuable. As they are DNV GL certified, they have of course more credibility. Such an industry standard is much more easily implemented by having DNV GL in the game.

DNV GL: Which market need did you see that FuelBoss helps to meet?

Granqvist: Overall we want to optimize our services so they become more effective. To achieve that goal, digitalization is a key driver. FuelBoss helps us to take a major step towards digitalization and enables certain services for our customers. When we thought about what would need to be the first to optimize, we came up with digitalizing the purchasing of our services and gas and create an improved ordering structure. That can be done with the FuelBoss solution.

DNV GL: What benefits do you see your customers getting from FuelBoss?

Granqvist: We want to make things easier for our customers and provide them a solution for that. With FuelBoss we provide a more professional and easier way to order fuel, which also helps customers to standardize their processes. But it also streamlines and optimizes our processes. FuelBoss also provides a platform where all the communication with the customer is gathered.

DNV GL: What other functions could further drive the business?

Granqvist: We see FuelBoss as a stepping stone towards further digitalization of the fuel market. The Business Intelligence tool that is built into it; the ease of purchasing any amount of liquid biogas (LBG). FuelBoss will enable the decarbonization of shipping in the long run. A new solution we are developing with some customers now is to take over their bunker operations. So, they do not need to do any purchasing anymore, but have a platform with FuelBoss where they can monitor their tank levels and get bunkering reports. That means transparency between the vessels and Gasum’s operations desk. If a vessel needs to be refilled, then we will agree on a port where it will happen. The possibilities are endless, whatever you can do with digitalization.

DNV GL: What key trends do you see for the LNG bunker market?

Granqvist: Hopefully there will be more standardization. One level we want to reach is avoiding unnecessary discussions as we had them in the mature market on availability, safety issues and things like that. We do not want to neglect safety as such, but the standards are very good today and we need to achieve a new normal in ports. Some ports are very conservative to safety issues, even though they claim to be LNG friendly and see it as the fuel of the future. It is still very hard to get permissions to bunker LNG in some ports. Hopefully, we will see a normalization, so the hurdles to bunkering LNG will become lower.

I also foresee that more biogas will be pushed into the total fuel mix. We already have customers that take in a 10% plan on liquefied biogas and we have done several field tests with LBG.

And of course, a further digitalization of the offerings. We see this not as a revolution but as an evolution.


Photo credit and Source:
DNV GL
Published: 5 August, 2020

 

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Alternative Fuels

ENGINE on Fuel Switch Snapshot: Liquid fuel prices drop

VLSFO availability improves in Singapore; B100 cheaper than HSFO with EU regulations; LNG becomes costliest fuel option in Rotterdam.

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ENGINE on Fuel Switch Snapshot: Liquid fuel prices drop

Once a week, bunker intelligence platform ENGINE will publish a snapshot of alternative and conventional bunker fuel prices in the world’s two biggest bunkering hubs. The following is the latest snapshot:

  • VLSFO availability improves in Singapore
  • B100 cheaper than HSFO with EU regs
  • LNG becomes costliest fuel option in Rotterdam

B100 (100% biofuel) is now $32/mt cheaper than HSFO in Rotterdam when factoring in EU ETS compliance costs and FuelEU pooling benefits for voyages between two EU ports.

EU regulations make liquid biomethane (LBM) $121/mt cheaper in Rotterdam than HSFO, but only if used in a diesel slow-speed (SS) marine engine with the lowest methane slip of 0.2%.

If the fuel is used in an Otto medium-speed engine with a 3.1% methane slip, LBM is actually $14/mt more expensive than HSFO, even with regulatory benefits.

ENGINE on Fuel Switch Snapshot: Liquid fuel prices drop

Regardless of the engine type, Rotterdam's VLSFO-equivalent liquefied natural gas (LNG) benchmark is now more expensive than all conventional fuels.

Even when accounting for the EU ETS and FuelEU penalties and considering that the fuel is used in a diesel SS engine, the theoretical price of LNG remains $66/mt higher than VLSFO and only $1/mt cheaper than LSMGO.

Liquid fuels

Rotterdam's VLSFO-equivalent B100 price has declined by $66/mt, while Singapore’s price has dropped by $10/mt over the past week.

PRIMA Markets assessed the Dutch HBE rebate for B100 in Rotterdam at $369/mt on Friday, marking a $12/mt increase from the previous week.

Rotterdam’s VLSFO price has remained relatively stable, with only a modest $4/mt decline—smaller than the $7/mt drop seen in the front-month ICE Brent futures contract.

Singapore has seen a larger $16/mt drop, partly due to improved VLSFO availability. Recommended lead times for the grade have shortened from 7–11 days last week, to 4–8 days now.

Liquid gases

Rotterdam’s LNG price has climbed for a third week in a row, this time by $26/mt over the past week. This increase is linked to a 3% rise in the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract, a key European gas benchmark.

The Dutch TTF benchmark has risen due to increased demand due to colder weather and increased draws from underground gas reserves in Europe.

Singapore’s VLSFO-equivalent LNG price has also climbed by $12/mt in the past week. “The rise can be attributed to updated forecasts of colder weather in Japan and higher gas prices in Europe,” Rystad Energy said.

By Konica Bhatt

 

Photo credit and source: ENGINE
Published: 11 February, 2025

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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.

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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

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Alternative Fuels

Hapag-Lloyd secures USD 4 billion green financing for 24 large containerships

Firm said it has obtained long-term financing for 24 new LNG dual-fuel, ammonia-ready containerships that it ordered from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding in October.

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Hapag-Lloyd's "Essen Express" (13,169 TEU) heading towards the ‘Köhlbrandbrücke’

Hapag-Lloyd on Tuesday (4 February) said it has fully secured USD 4 billion long-term financing for 24 new LNG dual-fuel, ammonia-ready containerships that it ordered from two Chinese shipyards last October. 

Of these, 12 newbuildings – each with a capacity of 16,800 TEU – will be built by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group. These units will be used to expand the capacity of services that are already in place. 

An additional 12 ships, each with a capacity of 9,200 TEU, have been ordered from New Times Shipbuilding Company Ltd. and will replace older units in the Hapag-Lloyd fleet that will be nearing the end of their service life in this decade.

The ships will be equipped with low-emission and fuel-efficient high-pressure liquefied gas dual-fuel engines. 

In addition, these vessels can be operated using biomethane, which can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional propulsion systems. The new ships will also be ammonia ready.

Hapag-Lloyd will take delivery of the new vessels between 2027 and 2029. The newbuildings will have a combined capacity of 312,000 TEU.

The financing consists of four components. Around USD 900 million of the purchase price will be financed using the company’s own funds. A total of USD 500 million will be made available from two banks in the form of bilateral mortgage loans.

Another part, in the amount of USD 1.8 billion, will be financed via three leasing structures, and USD 1.1 billion will be financed via a syndicated credit facility backed by the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). The financing share amounts to a total of around 80% of the investment volume, with maturities ranging between 10 and 18 years.

The financing will be carried out on the basis of Hapag-Lloyd’s Green Financing Framework, which in turn complies with the standards of the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA). This has been verified by an independent expert opinion of the international classification society DNV, as has the high efficiency of the ships and their compliance with the EU Taxonomy.

“We are continuously modernizing our fleet in order to deliver a high quality of service and to achieve our ambitious decarbonization goals,” said Mark Frese, CFO/CPO of Hapag-Lloyd AG. 

“The successful conclusion of several attractive financial transactions confirms that green financing components are becoming increasingly important. In addition, we are pleased to be able to finance newbuild projects in China for the first time with the Sinosure transaction.”

 

Photo credit: Hapag-Lloyd
Published: 5 February, 2025

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