Hercules Tanker Management (HTM) on Tuesday (29 April) announced that its tanker Mount Kibo has been successfully supplied with B30 bunkers by tanker Hercules Sky, another HTM-owned vessel which is operated by Peninsula.

The operation marked the first biofuel supply to the HTM fleet.

HTM is the shipping venture launched last September by John A. Bassadone, founder and CEO of independent marine fuel supplier Peninsula. 

HTM said the operation carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar aligns with the recent discussions at MEPC 83, where key decisions were made to advance maritime decarbonisation, including new fuel standards and a global pricing mechanism for emissions. 

“Additionally, this initiative supports the objectives of the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, which promotes the use of renewable, low-carbon fuels and clean energy technologies for ships,” it said.   

“By utilising biofuels, we are contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and supporting the industry's transition towards cleaner energy solutions.”

Related: Peninsula founder launches shipping firm Hercules Tanker Management
Related: Peninsula “Hercules Sky” to supply biofuel bunkers in Gibraltar Strait

Photo credit: Hercules Tanker Management
Published: 30 April, 2025

Classification society DNV on Monday (28 April) released an article summarizing how shipowners can apply a practical, structured approach to gaining approval for ammonia- or hydrogen-fuelled ships. 

From engaging early with flag administrations to addressing design risks, training crews, and managing bunkering safely, DNV described seven essential steps to receive approval:

The paper – Safe introduction of alternative fuels: Focus on ammonia and hydrogen as ship fuels – offers a structured pathway for shipowners to achieve approval through IMO’s alternative design approval (ADA) process.

Seven steps to obtain approval for ammonia- and hydrogen-fuelled ships

“We outline seven steps to assist shipowners and other stakeholders in obtaining approval and safely deploying ammonia- and hydrogen-fuelled ships in today’s immature regulatory environment,” says Linda Hammer, Principal Consultant, Environment Advisory at DNV and lead author of the white paper. “The regulatory path is certainly complex, but the steps and safety measures in the paper add up to a clear, achievable pathway to ship approval and safe operations. It also explains how DNV’s support can significantly ease this process through its tailored rule sets and learnings from pilot projects.”

Understanding ADA phases: From initial design to final approval

IMO’s IGF Code (International Code of Safety for Ship Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels) currently covers natural gas but not ammonia or hydrogen. Without detailed regulations, IMO’s risk-based ADA process (MSC.1/Circ.1455) is used. It involves demonstrating that the ship’s safety level is equivalent to that of conventional oil-fuelled vessels.

ADA has two main phases. A preliminary design approval requires a hazard identification (HAZID) study, developing a preliminary risk assessment, and defining preliminary risk-control measures and safety strategies.

Phase two, final design approval, starts with refining the design with detailed technical and safety documentation, then making a final risk assessment, addressing integration and operation-specific concerns. Then come complete system integration testing and submitting findings to the flag administration.

Role of class and flag administrations in approval process

As the IMO regulatory framework progresses towards eventually amending the IGF Code, classification societies like DNV can give shipowners a head start in designing vessels by issuing class certificates and providing prescriptive rule frameworks to support ADA. 

Flag administrations enforce statutory regulations and have the final say on approvals. Early and active engagement with the relevant flag administration is therefore the key to clarifying approval expectations and streamlining ADA.

Subject to flag administration acceptance, the DNV rules can be applied as the flag administration’s approval basis or to significantly reduce the complexity of ADA.

Simplifying ship approval: DNV’s rules for ammonia and hydrogen fuels

DNV’s classification rules for ammonia and hydrogen (i.e. the “Gas fuelled ammonia” notation published in 2021 and the 2024 “Gas fuelled hydrogen” notation) provide structured, prescriptive requirements as far as possible to simplify ADA. Applying them helps reduce uncertainty in flag administration approval, streamlines design focus by aligning with expected risk assessments, and provides predictability to shipowners, ship designers and shipyards.  

The paper describes step-by-step actions for obtaining approval. First, engage DNV and the flag administration early to clarify the approval basis. “DNV can help owners and yards in the initial contact with the flag administration to obtain necessary clarification regarding the approval scope and process,” says Hammer.

Second, align the design with DNV rules to ensure it provides a strong technical basis for risk evaluation. Third, tap into DNV’s extensive and growing experience from prior projects to anticipate what risk studies and documentation may be needed.

The paper also discusses measures to manage the new technical, human and organizational risks that both fuels bring compared to conventional fuels. DNV’s dedicated ship rules for each fuel type outline technical requirements and mitigation systems to integrate during design and operation.

Note: DNV’s full article on ‘Practical guide for approval of ammonia- or hydrogen-fuelled ships’ can be read here.

Related: DNV releases white paper on safe and scalable adoption of ammonia, hydrogen bunker fuels

Photo credit: DNV
Published: 30 April, 2025

Advisory, research and energy intelligence company Rystad Energy on Wednesday (30 April) gave an insight on the bunker market following the Mediterranean Sea effectively becoming an Emission Control Area (ECA) for sulphur oxides (SOx) under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 from 1 May:

The Mediterranean Sea is fast approaching a deadline to reduce bunker fuel sulfur limits required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Nearly a year ago, the Mediterranean Sea was designated as an Emission Control Area (ECA), but in order to maintain this status, very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) will have to virtually be eliminated from vessel fleets in the region. Rystad Energy estimates that ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) will dominate the Mediterranean Sea moving forward, should the IMO’s requirements be met. 

Rystad Energy’s oil market update from Valerie Panopio, Vice President, Commodity Markets Analysis - Oil: 

The inclusion of the Mediterranean Sea to the existing ECA zones leaves very little room for VLSFO in Europe. Now, vessels operating in the Mediterranean Sea must reduce sulfur limits to 0.1% from the previous level of 0.5%. We believe that VLSFO will be displaced by ULSFO, marine gas oil (MGO), and high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) resulting in a reshuffling of bunker fuel flows and optimization of vessel fleets.

We believe that this regulation of bunker fuel will result in a surge in compliant fuel demand, particularly in MGO.

This will fill in any expected gaps and encourage more flow of MGO from Northwest Europe to the Mediterranean and ultimately from the US and the Middle East.

The rerouting of fuel flows will open an arbitrage of VLSFO from Europe to the East of Suez, catering to Asia’s shortage and depressing VLSFO cracks in the short term. 

Tighter emission controls in the Mediterranean will force vessel operators to revisit strategies on fuel supply and fleet routes, investment on exhaust gas cleaning systems, or “scrubbers”, and exploration of alternative fuels.” 

Vessels plying the Mediterranean have the following options to respond to the tighter emission standards: 

• Complete switching to 0.1% sulfur bunker fuel such as ULSFO or MGO 
• Use of separate fuels depending on prevailing regulation 
• Retrofitting with scrubbers 
• Exploring alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), biofuels, hydrogen 
• Bypassing the Mediterranean 

These options come with their own challenges.  

Ships fitted with open-loop scrubber system need to adhere to local regulations on the discharging of their scrubber wash water. 

Meanwhile, the use of separate fuels requires intensive crew training to ensure proper segregation and flushing procedures are followed to avoid stability issues and cross contamination.  

In the past year, vessel traffic by the Mediterranean Sea has reduced – a consequence of the sporadic Houthi attacks along the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. 

Rystad Energy analysis found that in the first four months of 2025, large tankers such as VLCC’s and Suezmaxes comprised only 10% of vessels using the Mediterranean Sea.  

Vessels opt for the longer Cape of Good Hope route over the lofty risk premium of taking the Red Sea.  

This indicates that the majority of the ships operating in the region are smaller vessels that are most likely already using MGO as fuel.  

MGO bunkering has already been on the rise, signaling a likely increase in use of this fuel as regulations tighten. 

Based on bunkering data from the Port of Rotterdam, MGO bunkering has increased by 67,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the third quarter of2024 to the first quarter of2025, while VLSFO dropped by 48,000 bpd in the same period. 

The capability to produce ULSFO in the region, and in the broader European continent, is limited by a lack of refining complexity.  

ULSFO may be imported from other regions such as the Middle East into entry and exit points of the Mediterranean, such as the recent ULSFO deliveries from the UAE to Turkiye. 

Additionally, Rystad sees HSFO demand to be steady with potential upside as economics heavily favor the use of scrubbers over the more expensive ULSFO leading to a slow but steady rise in availability of scrubber-fitted vessels.

Photo credit: CHUTTERSNAP from Unsplash
Published: 30 April, 2025