Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee on Friday (10 January) said Zhoushan, the fourth largest bunkering port of the world, delivered 7.26 million metric tonnes (mt) of marine fuel in 2024.

This marked about a 3% increase from 7.04 million mt in 2023. 

The committee also highlighted the progress Zhoushan Port has made in the past year including actively planning to build an alternative fuel bunkering centre.

It has successfully obtained approval for the national biodiesel promotion and application pilot project. The construction of a project to produce an annual 1 million mt of marine biodiesel has begun.

The first methanol vehicle-to-ship pilot was carried out, and the first methanol bunkering barge in Zhoushan was officially built and is expected to be put into use by the end of 2025.

The port has also improved the fuel supply efficiency of various bunkering anchorages in Zhoushan including Tiaozhumen Anchorage adding three bunkering anchorages on top of the original five and has successfully carried out night bunkering operations. 

Xiushandong and Mazhi anchorages have added a total of three new bonded bunkering anchorages, which can implement all-weather and fully automatic anchorage reservations, and provide advance reservations and priority refueling services for large ships and large orders.

The committee also highlighted Dong Fang Zhao Yang becoming the first domestic bunkering barge to obtain the mass flow meter system certification under the ISO22192:2021 standard. The barge conducted a successful pilot for the bunkering of bonded fuel oil using a mass flow meter at Xiushandong Anchorage on 9 December. 

A spokesperson of the committee said Zhoushan will focus on promoting alternative bunker fuels such as biofuel and LNG and accelerating the completion of methanol refuelling safety assessments.

Related: IPEC 2024: Zhoushan port records 7.04 million mt annual bunker volume for 2023
Related: China: Zhoushan Port launches night bunkering ops in Tiaozhoumen outer anchorage
Related: China: Zhoushan shortlisted for national pilot project to promote biodiesel bunker fuel
Related: China: Zhoushan completes pilot bonded bunkering op with mass flow meter

Photo credit: Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee
Published: 14 January, 2025

Rasmus Stute from DNV interviews Sameer Kalra, President of the Marine Division and Executive Vice President at Alfa Laval, on key industry trends including the company's innovative approach to the energy transition, emphasizing fuel-agnostic solutions, energy efficiency and close collaboration with third parties to meet future challenges:

We met recently at the SMM trade fair, always a really important date on the shipping calendar. What were your takeaways?

The first thing that stood out to me was that energy efficiency seems to be really high on the agenda, alongside LNG as an alternative fuel. Secondly, digitalization seems to be much more in focus than just a couple of years ago. This is why it is so great to come to these trade shows; you can hear what the industry’s talking about and it really helps to calibrate your own views.

At SMM, we launched our latest Maritime Forecast to 2050, which focuses on the building blocks needed for the energy transition in shipping. From Alfa Laval’s perspective how are you going to respond to the energy transition? Is this a significant challenge or something you’ve already anticipated?

The one thing that Alfa Laval is absolutely known for is being innovative from the beginning and that’s still part of the company’s DNA. So when we started working around decarbonization and the energy transition roughly five or six years ago, we took the position that as Alfa Laval we needed to put our money where our mouth was. And, instead of just telling others to decarbonize, we also set some goals for ourselves for 2030. Right now, we expect to meet our Scope 1 and 2 net zero targets ahead of schedule. (PS: After this interview took place, Alfa Laval announced an updated goal to achieve net zero in its own operations by 2027, covering Scope 1 and 2 emissions.) 

However, challenges remain, particularly supporting customers in areas outside our direct control, such as fuel choice. Shipowners have a tough challenge, finding a vessel design and choosing a fuel that is economically viable, commercially attractive and future-proof for the next 20–25 years. Recognizing this complexity early on, we positioned ourselves to support shipowners with versatile, future-ready solutions. In particular, one major initiative has been to ensure our product portfolio is fuel-agnostic. 

Additionally, we have prioritized the development of new platforms focused on energy efficiency. Another key step has been the acquisition of StormGeo, which, whilst unconventional for a company like Alfa Laval, aligns with our strategy to address the evolving energy efficiency and sustainability demands of the maritime industry. Ultimately, our commitment is to provide solutions that enable both immediate and long-term decarbonization goals.

You mentioned key elements like energy efficiency and fuel flexibility, and you have set up your company to address these challenges. Looking ahead to 2030, what do you envision will be your most important products to support customers with these trends?

It is challenging to be definitive about specific products, but we can identify trends. Our energy efficiency portfolio will play an increasingly important role, even more so than it does today. Transitioning to clean fuels will also grow in importance. If I were to highlight one area, it would be energy efficiency over the short term. 

Given the challenges in scaling up the supply of green methanol and ammonia by 2030, boosting energy efficiency becomes an essential, immediate necessity for the industry. At Alfa Laval, all three of our divisions – Marine, Energy, and Food and Water – will contribute to these efforts. In the near term, we will focus on enhancing energy efficiency in existing systems whilst introducing new, innovative energy efficiency platforms across our product portfolio to support our customers in navigating this energy transition.

I’ve a follow-up question on the energy transition. How do you feel about the role of carbon capture and storage in this process?

From our perspective, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is set to play an important role, particularly on the energy side. However, the role of onboard carbon capture specifically is less clear. These are two different challenges and we need to approach them with an open mind. For instance, it’s possible that LNG could be a transitional fuel that achieves a 20% reduction in emissions. If onboard carbon capture technology could add another 10–15% reduction on top of that, it might be a viable step forward. 

However, there are still many questions to address. We need to solve challenges related to the footprint of onboard carbon capture systems, as well as their cost-benefit ratios. These are critical factors that must be worked out before onboard carbon capture becomes a widespread solution. That said, I have confidence in the ingenuity of the maritime industry, and I am optimistic that we will find ways to overcome these challenges. 

And whilst there are still questions to answer, I firmly believe that carbon capture and storage, both on land and onboard, could make a significant contribution towards accelerating the energy transition.

Note: The full interview by DNV can be found here.

Photo credit: Venti Views on Unsplash
Published: 14 January, 2025

The maritime industry’s exceptional newbuilding year 2024 drove a significant rise in orders for alternative-fuelled vessels, according to the latest data from DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insights (AFI) platform.

A total of 515 such ships were ordered, representing a 38% year-on-year increase compared to 2023, underscoring the industry's growing commitment to decarbonization.

The growth in alternative-fuelled vessel orders has been heavily driven by the container and car carrier newbuild boom over the last three years. In 2024, 69% of all container ship orders were for ships capable of being powered by alternative fuels, driven by cargo owners responding to consumer demands for more sustainable practices and liner companies preparing to replace older tonnage. The preferred fuel choice for this segment was LNG (67%). In total the container and car carrier segments made up 62% of all alternative fuel orders in 2024. 

Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime at DNV, said: “As we work towards decarbonizing the industry, we are encouraged by the growth in alternative fuel vessels over the past few years. While recent figures are promising, we must keep pushing forward.”

“The technological transition is underway, but supply of alternative fuel is still low. As an industry we need to work with fuel suppliers and other stakeholders to ensure that shipping has access to its share of alternative fuels in the future. It is also important that the safety of seafarers is ensured as we make this transition. This will require investment in upskilling and training.”

LNG was not the only fuel on shipowners’ minds as 2024 saw them betting on multiple alternative fuels. 166 methanol orders were added (32% of the AFI orderbook), reflecting shipping’s growing interest in a diverse fuel pool as it strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these methanol orders (85) were in the container segment.

While methanol drove newbuilding orders for alternative-fuelled vessels at the beginning of the year, LNG was the industry’s alternative fuel of choice by year-end. The number of LNG vessel orders placed in 2024 was 264, over double that of 2023 (130).

Ammonia saw promising momentum in the earliest months of the year and continued to grow throughout 2024. A total of 27 orders were placed for ammonia-fueled vessels. The first non-gas carrier ammonia-fuelled vessels orders were placed in 2024 (10), mainly in the bulk carrier segment (5). While still in its early stages, this provides further evidence of ammonia's emergence in the alternative fuel market.

Deliveries and bunkering

The number of LNG-fuelled ships in operation doubled between 2021 and 2024, with a record number of deliveries (169) in 2024. By the end of 2024, 641 LNG-powered ships were in operation. According to the AFI orderbook, this number is expected to double by the end of the decade. 

While the bunkering infrastructure for some alternative fuels remains underdeveloped, LNG bunkering is maturing. The number of LNG bunker vessels in operation grew from 52 to 64 over the last year, with continued growth expected in 2025. The significant gap between LNG bunkering supply and demand is expected to widen over the next five years based on the AFI orderbook. 

Addressing this challenge by developing the appropriate infrastructure for alternative fuels – both for vessels and bunkering - can create demand signals to stimulate long-term fuel production. With the EU regulatory package, Fit for 55, setting requirements on a large network of ports to have LNG bunkering infrastructure, it is expected that the availability of LNG in ports will increase.

Jason Stefanatos, Global Decarbonization Director at DNV, said: “Market conditions, infrastructure development, fuel production updates, and cargo owners' needs are all shaping the demand for different fuels, both in the short and long term.”

“The shifting trends in LNG and methanol orders this year might be due to the slow development of green methanol production. In the long run, green methanol has potential to be part of the energy mix along with ammonia.”

“In parallel, LNG offers a vital bridging fuel option benefiting from existing infrastructure and short-term emissions reductions while being capable of acting as a long-term solution as well, assuming RNG (Renewable Natural Gas) will be available and provided at a competitive price.”

Photo credit: DNV
Published: 13 January, 2024