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

United European Car Carriers (UECC) on Monday (13 January) said it has performed the first-ever ship bunkering operation in Spain with a truck-borne shipment of liquefied biomethane (LBM), also known as bio-LNG, to widen access to supplies of the sustainable fuel.

In the milestone event at the Port of Vigo, LBM supplied by green energy developer Naturgy from a biomethane production plant in the surrounding Galicia province was pumped directly from a tanker truck into the tanks of UECC’s multi-fuel LNG battery hybrid Pure Car and Truck Carrier, Auto Advance.

“This is an important step as it is the first time LBM has been delivered by truck to ship in the whole of Spain. We view Spain as a promising market for biomethane production and so it’s great to get this first delivery over the line,” said UECC’s Energy & Sustainability Manager Daniel Gent.

The delivery allows the leading sustainable carrier in the European shortsea RoRo trade to diversify its regional sources of supply for LBM beyond its main hub of Zeebrugge where it has a long-term supply agreement in place with Titan Clean Fuels. 

“We are trying to promote the growth of the wider small-scale LBM supply network,” Gent explained.

Another aspect of this diversification is that it also represents the first physical molecule delivery of the fuel - instead of mass balanced - as UECC explores multiple alternative delivery pathways to broaden its LBM portfolio.

UECC is boosting uptake of the fuel in line with expansion of its Sail for Change sustainability initiative launched last summer in which LBM is being bunkered on the company’s five dual and multi-fuel LNG PCTCs for several major vehicle manufacturers to cut their Scope 3 emissions.

As well as contributing to its customers’ decarbonisation efforts, UECC is providing fuel demand to support renewable energy development by Naturgy, which is involved in numerous innovative projects to convert agricultural and livestock waste into biomethane, strengthening the regional circular economy.

Naturgy, in a joint venture with Reganosa and Repsol, is looking to produce 1 terawatt hours per year of biomethane from treatment of animal slurry and other waste sources, which would cover 7% of Galicia’s annual gas import requirements and result in a reduction of 500,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Gent added: “We hope the LBM truck delivery in Spain will be the first of many.”

Related: JLR joins UECC bio-LNG initiative to decarbonise maritime transport
Related: Titan to supply biomethane bunker fuel to UECC multi-fuel ships with new deal
Related: UECC and Titan team up on bio-LNG bunkering operations in Port of Zeebrugge

Photo credit: United European Car Carriers
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