LNG bunker fuel supplier Titan on Thursday (17 October) has slammed energy giant Shell for its recent decision to order 10 conventional marine-fuelled product tankers fitted with scrubbers.

Titan said the move seemed “to contrast the agenda” both companies were pushing for, to make the maritime industry cleaner by investing in bunkering infrastructure to accommodate the decarbonisation of shipping.

“Shell, are you forfeiting your right to be a leader of the energy transition? With great power comes great responsibility,” it said in a social media post. 

“You carefully positioned yourself as an industry leader in the movement towards more sustainable and cleaner marine fuels. With your size, you hugely influence the industry and are a strong advocate for LNG as a marine fuel,” it said, adding that it was “surprised” when it saw a news report on the move. 

Given Shell’s leadership role, Titan said the decision raised questions about how it aligned with the company’s commitment to decarbonisation. 

“We’re genuinely interested in hearing more about your strategy for balancing these choices and how you view the LNG pathway in the bigger picture,” it said. 

It also said that Shell, adding more scrubber-fitted conventional fuel tankers to the current fleet sends a “strange signal” to the industry. 

“At Titan, we remain fully committed to driving this transition forward, offering a reliable supply of LNG, bio-LNG, and soon e-LNG to those already leading the way. Our focus remains on putting clean fuel into every ship,” Titan said. 

“Let’s continue pushing the boundaries and make sure shipping doesn’t take a step back.”

Photo credit: Titan
Published: 18 October 2024

Singapore-based global maritime container shipping company X-Press Feeders on Thursday (17 October) said it has ordered six 11,000-TEU methanol-ready, scrubber-fitted container ships from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.

The vessels are scheduled to be delivered between Q3 2027 and Q4 2028.

“These vessels are part of our fleet renewal strategy to deploy the right tonnage to our core trades and thereby maintain our competitiveness,” it said in a statement to Manifold Times. 

The company added “deployment details will be made known nearer to delivery dates.”

Manifold Times previously reported X-Press Feeder launching its second green methanol-powered route, the Green Baltic X-PRESS (GBX).

It is part of Europe’s first scheduled feeder network powered by green methanol. The expansion follows the successful launch of the Green Finland X-PRESS (GFX) in July and marked another significant milestone in the company’s commitment to sustainable shipping.

Related: X-Press Feeders methanol-powered vessel makes inaugural call at Klaipėda
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Related: Singapore-based X-Press Feeders launches Europe’s first green methanol feeder network
Related: X-Press Feeders takes delivery of world’s first methanol dual-fuel retrofit boxship

Photo credit: Scott Graham on Unsplash
Published 17 October 2024

Representatives of bulk shipowner Oldendorff Carriers GmbH & Co. KG. and bunkering firm Peninsula, amongst others, met at the Fuel Oil Markets - Projections and Supply Chain Resilience panel discussion session during the 23rd Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON 2024).

Topics discussed included the increased uptake of traditional marine fuels and importance of robust risk management.

Jens Maul Jørgensen, Director of Bunkers, Oldendorff Carriers GmbH & Co. KG, noted the dry bulk segment to be welcoming more than a thousand newbuildings within the next three years. Data from shipyards have indicated most of these vessels, especially the bigger ones, having scrubbers onboard.

“The majority of the orderbook today, in all segments, is not dual fuel mainly due to costs. We cannot run away from that; the vessel need fuel to sail,” he explained.

Meanwhile, areas such as the Amsterdam–Rotterdam–Antwerp (ARA) region have seen even more high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) than LSFO supplied every month, which shows demand for traditional HSFO to be increasing. 

New Emission Control Areas (ECAs) such as the Mediterranean Sea ECA taking effect from 1 May 2025 will also mean more consumption of low sulphur bunker products.

Jørgensen, who is responsible for purchase bunker fuels for approximately 750 bulk carriers, next highlighted the importance of managing proper exposure control due to fluctuating oil prices.

“If we don't hedge, we speculate. We must make sure that the prices are safe as nobody can predict what is going on in six months. Being in a open position will be a big risk, especially in this market, so proper exposure control is the key.”

Kenny MacLean, Chief Operating Officer, Peninsula agreed with Jørgensen approach towards managing risk.

“It's the same story, but we're buying bulk, and so it's progressively even more important. I think the bunker industry in general has had a bit of a checkered past with companies that haven't paid too much attention to their risk management,” shared MacLean.

“That's something that Peninsula is absolutely laser focused on. So obviously, all our purchases are hedged and that's of critical importance. 

“Other areas that are super important is making sure that you're getting economies of scale out of the purchases as well. But really, it's that hedging, derivatives, price risk management side that’s of critical importance in our industry in general.”

Concurring with Jørgensen’s observation of high consumption of low sulphur bunker products such as marine gas oil (MGO) within ECAs, MacLean added the similar regions have also been driving the increased use of biofuels. 

“What we try to do is have a very diverse customer base, and our supply decisions are pretty much based around aggregating that customer demand by being a bit more customer centric and really getting into our customers and asking, ‘What are the solutions that you're going to need?’” he said.

“It's our job as a bunker supplier to aggregate that fuel together and make sure that we can make it available in the right place at the right time, otherwise, you're going to be left just with a few very large bunkering hubs around the world. 

“It's incumbent upon bunker suppliers like Peninsula to make sure that if it's in the Mediterranean we've got the full range of products available so that when Jens knocks and says, ‘Actually, I'd quite like some biofuel guys’ we are there with the solutions ready and available.”

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 17 October 2024