Shipping must be open to sharing the risks associated with emissions reduction to enable the uptake of energy savings devices and technologies (ESDs/ESTs) and digital applications, stated classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) representatives during a presentation at Athens during early December.

The responsibility of investing in and driving the uptake of new solutions must be borne by all relevant stakeholders and not sit solely with the shipowner. This extends not only to financial exposure, but also new vessel design and data sharing.

When major change is introduced on a ship, there are numerous aspects to consider by all stakeholders involved which all add risk. Energy producers, the energy consumers, the associated supply chains, and the investors, insurers, regulators, class societies and governments – all have critical, but different and highly inter-related roles to play within the transition.

“We are in a new era of shipping that comes with a different set of rules, including shipping companies’ approach risk and risk sharing,” shared Elina Papageorgiou, Global Strategic Growth Director and VP Greece and Cyprus at LR at the Powering Progress: Innovation and Energy in Maritime event.

“Longer-term investment decisions should also be informed by the decisions of shipping’s clients’, clients – the cargo owners – and align with their emissions reduction ambitions.”

David Lloyd, Director, Energy Transition at LR, meanwhile noted: “Smart vessel operation and well-informed, data-led investment decisions can significantly support vessel compliance. What’s more, investments don’t have to be extensive to achieve results.”

“Whilst uncertainties around bigger challenges such as alternative fuels and future requirements are resolved, ESDs and digital solutions can support the commercial viability of vessels as we approach 2030 with often surprisingly low levels of investment. But these investments should be shared across all stakeholders and not be limited to owners and financiers.”

Fotis Belexis, Technical Director of Starbulk Carriers, were amongst speakers discussing risk sharing across stakeholders for complex capital investments.

He pointed out that as existing vessels age, they cannot be replaced by newbuilds as there is insufficient global shipbuilding capacity to replenish the fleet with newer tonnage.

As such, older vessels may therefore remain in the market for longer than expected and not depreciate in value as has been the case in the past. Banks and other lenders must realise this and adjust their depreciation and lending models to suit when ship owners want to finance retrofits of ESDs on their older ships.

Moving forward, the room agreed energy saving devices (ESDs), such as wind-assisted ship propulsion, digital solutions and smart operations should all be considered as the in-service fleet using traditional marine fuels seeks to shave its bunker fuel consumption to comply with IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator, EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) and FuelEU regulations – the latter will which be in effect as of 1 January 2025.

As emissions reduction targets increase, with steeper increments than currently planned potentially being announced at the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting in May next year, data-led insight and scenario planning will become more important to understand where efficiencies can be gained.

Photo credit: Lloyd’s Register
Published: 31 December 2024

The following is an article by Baltic Exchange, which was shared to Singapore-based bunkering publication Manifold Times, on the launch of its new free FuelEU Maritime calculator for the maritime industry.

Martin Crawford-Brunt, CEO of Lookout Maritime and Emissions Lead of Baltic Exchange, also discusses the complexity of the regulatory and the need for greater benchmarks:

​​From 1 January 2025, voyages that include port calls in the European Union will have to account for the new FuelEU Maritime regulation. This new regulation is designed to accelerate the uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport to drastically reduce onboard greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Europe. 

FuelEU Maritime is the latest regulation designed to help shipping’s decarbonisation journey. However, these types of emissions regulations are becoming increasingly complex and increasingly regional. Due to the sheer number of new regulations, tightening goals and deadlines, access to reliable data and insights to inform decision making is increasingly requested. Furthermore, the regulations may not consistently address the nuances of different trade patterns or vessel types, thereby introducing ambiguity which increases the uncertainty and challenges for the shipping industry.

In order for shipowners to better understand the financial costs, as well as the wider commercial impacts of complying with FuelEU Maritime, particularly when it comes to the specific regulations of their own fleets, what is needed is a clear market benchmark for defining good emissions performance. Crucially, this type of standard needs to come from a trusted source in the market. This is where Baltic Exchange and its Emissions Calculators have a vital role to play. 

“While the latest emissions regulations are a net positive for the industry, there is a degree of ambiguity around what constitutes strong commercial performance in this evolving landscape. It all gets very real when you put dollar numbers on the penalties and fuel alternatives. What is needed right now is an clearer understanding of the commercial implications of the various regulations and how these will affect the operational decisions of shipowners,” said Martin Crawford-Brunt, Emissions Lead at Baltic Exchange.

“Baltic Exchange is offering market-related baselines to help educate and inform the market on the financial implications of the cost of emissions in freight for shipping players who need to factor them into their business decisions.

“This includes providing the means to calculate the cost and potential penalties of carbon emission regulations, such as EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime, so these can be included into voyage costs,” he added.

Baltic Exchange FuelEU Calculator

Launched earlier this year ahead of the regulation coming into force, Baltic Exchange’s Emissions Calculator now includes a specific FuelEU Maritime feature. This tool helps shipowners understand the potential cost implications for their vessels, while also enabling operators and charterers to evaluate whether they are being charged fairly. By offering insights based on Baltic standard ships and standard route data, it creates a win-win scenario for all parties involved.

This new tool provides a vital comparison for a vessel’s journey and fuel consumption, comparing standard low sulphur heavy fuel oil to other greener options such as LNG or methanol. By entering the vessel’s deadweight tonnage, type, speed and consumption against Baltic standard ship data, shipowners are able to quickly understand the potential financial penalties of operating that vessel on voyages which include EU port calls. This will enable the market them to factor these additional costs into the cost of freight, expressed in dollar per tonne,  or the target time charter rate. 

Only fossil-based variants of alternative fuels are included in the calculator, for the time being, as these will be available first and are expected to be more competitively priced, than green alternatives. The tool is set to include bio-fuel blends, for diesel and LNG, which have a known well-to-wake factor, in future updates. 

Note: The full article by Baltic Exchange can be read here.

Photo credit: CHUTTERSNAP from Unsplash
Published: 17 December, 2024

The global regulatory framework aiming to decarbonize the shipping industry has reached a considerable level of complexity, confronting Asian shipowners and operators with the challenging task of collecting, managing, verifying and reporting emission data on a regular basis. DNV has developed a comprehensive online emission data validation and management tool that helps the industry share trustworthy data:

New rules require a new approach

The IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), the management of EU allowances (EUAs) within the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), and the forthcoming FuelEU Maritime Regulation come with challenges for the maritime industry. There are still wide-spread misconceptions about the EU ETS scheme, and many registered owners have not realized that it is their responsibility to report emissions and purchase EUAs for their vessels operating in European waters.

“Purchasing and surrendering emission allowances under the EU ETS can be costly for shipping companies,” explains Dominic Ng, Head of APAC Veracity at DNV in Singapore. “This has consequences for contractual agreements between parties across the value chain.”

For shipowners, ship operators and managers, charterers and cargo owners, it is crucial to collaborate closely to ensure compliance and avoid the risks of defaulting on emission reporting duties, incurring unnecessary costs, and experiencing data handling errors. For example, to compute ETS exposure and file the consolidated end-of-voyage emission reports, charterers need daily emission data feeds from their ships.

A digital tool establishing a single source of truth

Of critical concern is the accuracy and reliability of the reported emission data because it influences the number of EU allowances that must be purchased. The data collected on board should therefore be verified and receive a “stamp of approval” from a trusted third party.

Recognizing these needs, DNV developed its online tool Emissions Connect, available on the Veracity platform. “Emissions Connect combines three key functionalities the shipping industry needs to comply with decarbonization regulations: consistent management of emissions data, easy integration of business partners, and quick generation of the mandatory statements,” Ng points out. “It provides the trusted single source of truth everyone needs for efficient emission reporting.”

Union Marine believes in being proactive

Many shipowners in Asia erroneously believe that EU ETS compliance is exclusively the charterer’s responsibility, says Vinay Gupta, Founder and Managing Director of Singapore-based Union Marine Management Services Pte. Ltd. (UMMS). “We started our EU ETS compliance programme in August of 2023. I personally held a two-hour session with each of our 18 clients operating ships in EU waters, explaining to them what EU ETS stands for and how it will affect them, how they can manage it, and how they can mitigate any inherent risk.”

UMMS had been using DNV’s Veracity data platform for IMO DCS and EU MRV verification since 2019. When Emissions Connect was added, DNV helped UMMS integrate the solution with their ERP system through an application program interface (API). Today UMMS uses Emissions Connect for all vessels going on EU voyages, or roughly 25 per cent of their managed fleet.

Convenience, transparency and data security

“Emissions Connect has added value by streamlining the way our data is arranged,” Gupta continues. “Following integration of Emissions Connect, we were able to identify the gaps in our reporting system and now the data undergoes many more levels of checks and sanitation before it is synchronised with the Emissions Connect portal for verification.”

“Verified EU ETS statements can be generated quickly and submitted to the owner or charterer within seven days of voyage completion”, Gupta adds. “Emissions Connect has a user-friendly interface, and its voyage simulation feature assists in planning future CII ratings for an intended voyage, helping managers proactively maintain vessel emission levels. All this brings added value to our clients.”

When a German bank offered its emission allowance trading services to UMMS, Gupta opened a certificate trading account as the final element in a seamless EU ETS value chain: Fuel consumption data captured on board and transmitted to shore in the noon report is subsequently routed through the API to DNV’s Veracity and Emissions Connect, where it is quality assured and verified. From here the trusted data is seamlessly transmitted to the trading account. “This end-to-end process is so convenient we are now offering it as a service to many clients, including some whose ships are not even under our management,” says Gupta.

“With the DNV Emissions Connect, we can have transparency and effective monitoring of the data being submitted and verified,” explains Gupta. “All the calculations on Emissions Connect are in line with the latest requirements and are accepted industry-wide.” Thanks to its EU ETS know-how, UMMS can now be of help to companies struggling to understand the regulation. “Many owners still don’t know what it is they need to know to carry on with their business,” Gupta points out.

Getting ready for FuelEU Maritime

“DNV are very mature in their understanding of the regulations and how they have to be implemented,” summarizes Gupta. “They are a good partner to have in the current situation – a very collaborative, proactive, forward-thinking organization.”

As both companies’ experiences with the EU ETS introduction have shown, this proactive mindset is enormously helpful in coping with regulatory challenges. Both organizations strongly believe in helping shipowners understand that increasing the efficiency of their vessels can improve CII ratings, lower EU ETS costs incurred and enhance the competitiveness of their vessels.

The next major challenge, FuelEU Maritime, will add further complexity to emissions reporting: Reconciling regulatory deadlines and commercial obligations will require even closer alignment and synchronization between the stakeholders. However, with a unified, common data architecture and a centralized “single source of truth” available for secure data sharing, and with a smooth emission reporting process in place, that next step should quickly lose its scare.

Photo credit: DNV, UMMS
Published: 22 November, 2024