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The world’s first autonomous and electric boxship has just been ordered

Yara Birkeland scheduled for launch in early 2020, and will gradually move to autonomous operation by 2022.

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A NOK 250 million (USD $29.7 million) arrangement to construct the world’s first autonomous and electric containership was made on Wednesday between Norwegian chemical company YARA, technology company KONGSBERG and shipyard VARD.

The project has received NOK 133.6 million in support from the Norwegian government enterprise ENOVA.

VARD will deliver Yara Birkeland for launch in early 2020, and the vessel will gradually move from manned operation to fully autonomous operation by 2022.

The project was initiated in an effort to improve the logistics at Yara’s Porsgrunn fertilizer plant. Every day, more than 100 diesel truck journeys are needed to transport products from Yara’s Porsgrunn plant to ports in Brevik and Larvik where the company ships products to customers around the world.

Replacing 40,000 truck journeys a year, the Yara Birkeland will reduce NOx and CO2 emissions and improve road safety in a densely populated urban area.

“A vessel like Yara Birkeland has never been built before, and we rely on teaming up with partners with an entrepreneurial mindset and cutting edge expertise,” says Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of YARA.

“VARD combines experience in customized ship building with leading innovation, and will deliver a game-changing vessel which will help us lower our emissions, and contribute to feeding the world while protecting the planet.”

Photo credit: Kongsberg Maritime
Published: 16 August, 2018

 

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Port & Regulatory

DNV: EU defines offshore ships for EU MRV reporting

From 1 January 2025, offshore ships above 400 GT are required to report GHG emissions data under the EU MRV regulation.

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Classification society DNV, an accredited verifier for the EU MRV verification services since 2018, on Friday (8 November) issued guidance for offshore vessels under the EU MRV scheme:

Offshore ships above 400 GT are required to start reporting GHG emissions from 1 January 2025.

The adopted Delegated Regulation (to be published by the end of 2024) amends the EU MRV Regulation 2015/757 stating that the following ships designed or certified to perform service activities offshore or at offshore installations should be considered offshore ships:

Ship types

ship types

The ship’s statutory certifications or any other relevant documentation, including class notations, should be taken into consideration to determine whether the ship falls under the definition of an offshore ship or not.

DNV does not consider platforms and rigs, such as jack-ups and semi-submersible platforms, to fall under any of the ship types listed. Therefore, for such objects there is no need to prepare an MRV Monitoring Plan and start reporting. However, more guidance may be issued later specifying this list further.

Company responsible for the EU MRV Monitoring Plan

According to the MRV regulations, the registered owner is the company responsible, unless it has explicitly mandated the ISM company.

The company responsible should submit the Monitoring Plan to an accredited verifier for assessment and then to the company’s administering authority as soon as possible in time for the reporting period starting 1 January 2025.

EU ETS from 1 January 2027 (>5,000 GT)

Note that offshore ships of 5,000 GT and above will fall under the scope of the EU ETS from 1 January 2027, while ships of 400 GT and up to 5,000 GT will be reviewed by 31 December 2026 for inclusion at a later stage.

A company that is only responsible for offshore vessels (and not responsible for other ship types) does not need to open a Maritime Operator Holding Account, as the EU ETS does not apply to these ships before 2027.

Voyage-based reporting in the EU MRV

The inclusion of offshore ships in the EU MRV scheme from 2025 implies that each port of call and voyage must be monitored and reported. Reporting in regular intervals (such as every day at noon or at midnight) should be supplemented by reports documenting the start and end of a port call. In addition, emissions resulting from ship movements within a port of call should be monitored and reported. Relevant resources for reporting:

Port definition

The European Commission is expected to publish guidance related to stops at offshore facilities. Apart from port facilities ashore, which should naturally also be considered as a port in the context of the EU MRV Regulation, the following should be considered as a port:

  • An offshore facility (such as an FPSO, FSRU) with an assigned UN/LOCODE
  • An offshore facility located outside of the port but permanently connected to a port (such as loading buoys)

If an offshore ship stops at such a facility to load or unload cargo, embark or disembark passengers, or relieve crew, it will be considered a port of call under the EU MRV Regulation. Relevant resources:

Definition of “port of call”

An MRV voyage is defined as being from one port of call to another port of call, and any activities carried out in between are considered part of the voyage.

For an offshore ship, if at least one of the following conditions are met, a stop in a port is considered a port of call:

  • A port where the ship stops to load or unload cargo or to embark or disembark passengers
  • A port where the ship stops to relieve the crew

In addition, ship-to-ship transfer within port limits is considered a port of call in the EU MRV Regulation. In the voyage scenario below, the MRV voyage A starts when ship’s crew embarks the vessel in a member state port. The vessel proceeds to a service area (e.g. offshore installation, project site, research area) to perform service activity and later returns to a member state port to relieve the crew. The MRV voyage covers the time from departure from port, the transit to service area, the service activity and the transit back to port until arrival in port.

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Reporting of cargo carried

As per the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1928, for ship types not falling under any of the defined categories of the regulation, cargo carried is determined as mass of cargo on board or as deadweight carried for laden voyages and zero for ballast voyages. Offshore ships should comply with this requirement and additionally monitor the number of passengers and crew members to determine the port-of-call status. Pending further guidance from the European Commission, we recommend that all personnel on board is reported as either passengers or crew members. Relevant monitoring procedures should be reflected in the ship’s MRV Monitoring Plan.

Guidance documents

The European Commission is expected to publish guidance materials specific to the topic of offshore ships’ inclusion in MRV/ETS. Until it is in place, the guidance for shipping companies, “The EU ETS and MRV Maritime – General guidance for shipping companies (Guidance Document No. 1)” covers applicable topics. Since the document is expected to be updated in the coming months, please refer to the European Commission’s dedicated website where the most current guidance documents can be found, see below under Resources.

Recommendations

Shipping companies responsible for any ship type defined in this news should prepare an MRV Monitoring Plan and start collecting MRV data from 1 January 2025.

Companies should review their data monitoring procedures and adjust these to the MRV per-voyage reporting requirements: set up a Thetis-MRV account and request attribution to an administering authority (as per Chapter 2.4 of the Guidance Document No. 1).

 

Source: DNV
Photo credits: Manifold Times, DNV
Published: 13 November 2024

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Technology

ZeroNorth and Vitol launch four-week digital bunkering trial in Port of Rotterdam

Stakeholders seek to enhance efficiency and transparency while establishing a foundation for digitalising bunker operations in Europe’s largest bunkering hub.

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Digital bunkering platform solutions provider ZeroNorth, multinational energy and commodity trading firm Vitol, and the Port of Rotterdam on Tuesday (12 November) completed a first digital bunker delivery, marking the launch of a four-week trial.

During this period, Vitol will carry out three to four bunker deliveries in the Port of Rotterdam, using ZeroNorth’s electronic bunker delivery note (e-BDN) solution. The aim is to demonstrate the benefits of digital over manual bunker delivery notes by assessing time savings during bunkering, enhanced operational efficiency and improved data quality.

The trial further aims to demonstrate the solution's viability for the port’s operations, thereby enabling the Port of Rotterdam to be the first port in Europe to take steps to digitalise bunkering. With that, Rotterdam follows the example of the Maritime and Port Authority in Singapore (MPA), which was the world’s first port to implement and mandate e-BDN.

As two of the largest bunkering ports globally, Singapore and Rotterdam play crucial roles in catalysing global efforts to enhance efficiency in international shipping as part of the Singapore-Rotterdam Green and Digital Shipping Corridor.

ZeroNorth and Vitol have both been part of driving this work in Singapore, where Vitol Bunkers, in close collaboration with ZeroNorth, became one of the first to adopt e-BDN under MPA’s approval.

After the trial, the parties will fully integrate eBDN into the systems of the Port of Rotterdam and its suppliers, laying the foundation for a fully digitalised workflow.

Saskia Mureau, Director Customer Digital of the Port of Rotterdam Authority says “The port of Rotterdam is pleased to join Vitol and ZeroNorth in completing the first digital bunker delivery. This pilot allows us to demonstrate the benefits of electronic bunker delivery notes, including time savings, improved operational efficiency and enhanced data quality. This initiative underscores our commitment to innovation and sustainability and brings us one step closer to digitising bunker operations at one of the largest bunker ports in the world.”

Kenneth Juhls, Senior VP and Global Head of Customer Success at ZeroNorth, says “Transparency and efficiency in the bunker sector are crucial to the success of shipping’s energy transition. While the digitalisation of the bunker industry is gathering pace, significant opportunities to reduce operational costs and improve transparency in fuel transactions remain untapped. We’re thrilled to partner with Vitol to conduct this trial in Europe’s most important bunkering hub. This initiative is an important step forward and has the potential to serve as a catalyst for the widespread adoption of eBDN across the industry.”

Ian Butler, Head of Energy Transition – Shipping at Vitol, says “We are pleased to participate in this trial. Digitalisation has the potential to benefit the bunkering industry through increased efficiencies and greater operational transparency; to the benefit of our customers and the wider market.”

Related: Singapore set to become first port in the world to debut electronic bunker delivery notes
Related: SMW 2024: Singapore-Rotterdam Green and Digital Shipping Corridor partners to implement first-mover pilot projects
Related: ZeroNorth eBDN solution goes live on 12 Vitol Bunkers barges in Singapore

 

Photo credit: ZeroNorth
Published: 13 November 2024

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FuelEU

Fuelink platform adds new FuelEU Maritime module to support compliance

Users can now quickly calculate the GHG intensity of each voyage in accordance with the Fuel EU Maritime framework.

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Maritime technology provider Fuelink on Friday (8 November) said it has added a new module to its digital platform to support FuelEU maritime compliance.

The Fuelink platform, which provides a one-stop shop for bunker data management and fuel supply optimisation, now enables users to calculate voyage emissions in line with FuelEU Maritime legislation and access sufficient credits to address any deficits and achieve compliance.

Effective from 1st January 2025, FuelEU Maritime is a regulatory framework that requires each vessel to attain a required greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity index, starting with a 2% decrease by 2025 and reaching up to an 80% reduction by 2050. These reductions in GHG intensity will only be possible using alternative fuels: biofuels, LNG, or sustainable forms of methanol and ammonia. Not complying with FuelEU Maritime will mean fines much higher than those incurred from non-compliance with the EU ETS, with a penalty of €2,400 per tonne VLFSO energy equivalent.

FuelEU Maritime requires more complex calculations than EU ETS because it uses a well-to-wake approach rather than a tank-to-wake approach. This means that combustion emissions and the lifecycle emissions of the fuels, from production to distribution, are considered. Companies must evaluate the GHG intensity of different fuels, which becomes even more challenging when blending multiple fuel types. This added complexity necessitates a more detailed analysis for compliance.

Now, users can quickly calculate the GHG intensity of each voyage in accordance with the Fuel EU Maritime framework. Fuelink provides emissions reports for every vessel and determines which vessels are compliant and have a deficit. It then enables internal or external pooling, allowing the user to access sufficient credits to achieve compliance.

Konstantin Bronetskyi, General Manager, Fuelink, said: “Fuelink users want an end-to-end service from planning and scheduling a voyage, to creating the fuel strategy, and calculating the carbon intensity of that voyage, plus after sales support.”

“The platform supports compliance with EU ETS by calculating how many EUAs are needed for each voyage and allowing users to purchase and allocate them accordingly.

“With the introduction of FuelEU Maritime in January 2025, users need even more support, from calculating the carbon intensity of voyages to the internal and external pooling of verified credits to ensure all vessels are compliant.”

Fuelink acts as a central repository for all bunker-related information. The platform records and tracks all deliveries, hosting bunker delivery notes (BDNs), invoices, surveyor reports, Certificates of Quality (CoQs), ISCC information, bunker sampling and analysis reports, statements of facts, and claims handling documentation. This improves auditing, benchmarking, and automated reporting for operational and legal teams and supports increased transparency and accountability in global marine fuel supply.

Photo credit: Baseblue
Published: 12 November 2024

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