The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) on Thursday (9 January) said it has joined 47 governments in a joint submission to the final round of negotiations at the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) to adopt a maritime greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pricing mechanism to achieve net zero GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050. 

The joint text is supported by major shipping nations such as Greece, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom, the world’s largest flag States including Bahamas, Liberia, Marshall Islands and Panama, all EU States (and the European Commission), other African countries such as Nigeria and Kenya, plus Small Island Developing States from the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The joint submission by governments sets out convergent regulatory text for amendments to the IMO MARPOL Convention, which will require shipping companies operating ships on international voyages to make GHG contributions per tonne of CO2e emitted to a new “IMO GHG Strategy Implementation Fund”.

ICS said the key purpose of this mandatory GHG charge will be to reduce the cost gap between zero/near-zero GHG emission (ZNZ) fuels such as green methanol, ammonia and hydrogen and conventional bunker fuels, to incentivise the accelerated uptake of green energy sources. 

Revenue generated will be used to reward the production and uptake of ZNZ marine fuels, whilst also providing billions of US dollars annually to support the maritime GHG reduction efforts of developing countries.

International Chamber of Shipping Secretary General, Guy Platten, said: “The industry fully supports the adoption by IMO of a GHG pricing mechanism for global application to shipping.”

“The joint text put forward by this broad coalition is a pragmatic solution and the most effective way to incentivise a rapid energy transition in shipping to achieve the agreed IMO goal of net zero emissions by or close to 2050.”

“We are very pleased that such a large and diverse group of nations now firmly supports a common approach to maritime carbon charging. This proposed joint text has been hard fought and is broadly based on ideas which ICS has been advocating for the past ten years.

“While a large number of governments now support a universal flat rate GHG contribution by ships – or something similar – a minority of governments continue to have concerns. Working in co-operation with all IMO Member States we will do our best to allay such concerns during the final stages of these critical negotiations about regulatory text.”

This mature regulatory proposal will be considered by a critical IMO meeting in February – in the week of 17 February 2025 at ISWG-GHG 18. 

If the MARPOL amendments are approved by IMO in April 2025, they should enter into force globally in early 2027, with the collection of annual GHG contributions from ships commencing in 2028.

Note: The joint proposal to IMO for a maritime GHG emissions pricing mechanism can be found here.

Photo credit: International Maritime Organization
Published: 10 January, 2025

The Port of Rotterdam Authority recently published bunker fuel sales data for the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.

Deliveries of ultra low sulphur fuel oil, very low sulphur fuel oil, high sulphur fuel oil, marine gas oil and marine diesel oil in Q3 2024 (against on year) recorded respectively 207,869 metric tonnes (mt) (+11.3%  from 186,803 mt), 837,905 mt (+3.4% from 810,553 mt), 906,737 mt (14.7% from 790,195 mt), 228,411 (-2.7% from 234,690 mt), 106,341 mt (-26.4% from 144,452 mt). 

Bio-blended variants of ultra low sulphur fuel oil, very low sulphur fuel oil, high sulphur fuel oil, marine gas oil and marine diesel oil in Q3 2024 (against on year) recorded respectively 21,261 mt (+196% from  7,183 mt), 52,255 mt (-63.6.6% from 143,677 mt), 51,686 (+203% from 17,046 mt), 10,006 mt (-30.4% from 14,385 mt) and 1,967 mt (-99.8% from 958 mt).

Port data showed 220,120 m3 of liquefied natural gas (LNG) being delivered as a marine fuel in Q3 2024, a 7.7% increase from 204,418 m3 in Q3 2023. Bio-methanol and bio-blended LNG recorded 2,066 mt and zero respectively in Q3 2024.

Photo credit: Port of Rotterdam
Published: 24 October, 2024

A pair of dual fuel (diesel and LNG) RAstar 4200-DF standby vessels have recently entered service with Hongkong Salvage & Towage (HKST), according to naval architect company Robert Allan Ltd recently.

Built by Cheoy Lee Shipyards, LNG Sentinel I and LNG Sentinel II were specifically designed for service at the Hong Kong LNG Terminal Limited (HKLTL) import terminal.

Featuring a unique electrical propulsion system with Z-drives that can receive power from both diesel and dual fuel (diesel and LNG) propulsion gensets, these vessels will help maintain a safety zone around the terminal and assist with berthing of LNG carriers to the jetty. 

They will also transport personnel plus equipment between Hong Kong and the floating regasification and storage unit (FSRU) and jetty. Their standby duties may include emergency towing of the FSRU, fire-fighting, spill response, and rescue.

Working closely with both HKST and Cheoy Lee Shipyards through the design process was key to enabling Robert Allan to design this vessel pair that are customised for the missions for which they will be tasked.

These vessels are the 8th and 9th LNG dual fuel tugs completed to five different Robert Allan designs, with three classification societies, and for service on three continents.

Photo credit: Robert Allan Ltd
Published: 30 July 2024