LNG is definitely not the only choice for future marine fuels, but it must be the best choice. For ships currently built, it is necessary to prepare for the 2020 or 2025 low sulfur oil restrictions. From this perspective, the LNG fuel ship is a rainy day, and this means that a huge new market is gestating.
Global shipping companies join forces to form the "SEA/LNG" major league
It is reported that a major alliance called "SEA/LNG" was formally established recently. The alliance is jointly organized by internationally renowned ship owners, shipyards, classification societies, equipment manufacturers, port operators and energy giants. The alliance aims to break the barriers to the global promotion and application of LNG marine fuels through cooperation and improve the overall environmental protection of the shipping industry. which performed.
It is understood that the early members of the major alliance project include Carnival Group, DNV GL Classification Society, ENGIE Company, ENN Group, GE Ship, GTT Company, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nippon Yusen, Rotterdam Port, Qatargas Company, Shell Downstream, Tote and Wärtsilä, which will be shared in human resources, data analysis and expertise to support and accelerate the application of LNG fuels in the marine industry.
The major areas of the Grand Alliance include support for the development of LNG fuel refueling at major ports around the world, training and educating corporate shareholders to understand the risks and opportunities of using LNG fuels and to promote the development of cleaner shipping fuel regulations worldwide.
Compared with traditional marine fuels such as HFO, LNG has a significant advantage in environmental protection, which can reduce NOX emissions by 85%. Since LNG does not contain sulfur, it will produce almost no SOX. In addition, it will not produce particulate matter after full combustion. Meet current and future regulatory requirements. However, LNG facilities need to be located in the port so that fueling can be done quickly, safely and cost-effectively. At the same time, the construction and modification of LNG power vessels is expensive, lack of global uniform regulatory standards, etc., and are potential obstacles to the promotion of LNG fuel.
Peter Keller, Chairman of the "SEA/LNG" Alliance and Executive Vice President of Tote, said that we all recognize the need to work closely with key players in the value chain to ensure that people understand the environmental and performance of LNG as a fuel for ship transportation. The benefits, we will solve market barriers and make the use of marine LNG fuels globally a reality.
It is understood that the current LNG power shipping is only concentrated in some special ship areas, including offshore shipping and ferry, mainly between two fixed ports. The Grand Alliance hopes to promote the expansion of LNG as a fuel for ships, not just offshore and local vessels, but also to apply to ocean trade.
Two major shipping giants are testing LNG as a marine power
It is reported that Maersk Group and Arabian ships are currently testing the use of LNG as a marine power, using clean fuels to curb pollution and create new markets.
Maersk, the world's largest consignment company, recently announced that it has agreed to carry out LNG as a marine fuel project with Qatargas and Royal Dutch Shell. Maersk and Qatargas and Shell are currently focusing on the location of gas station projects in the Middle East. Qatargas and Shell's joint venture plant will provide an average of 7.8 million tons of LNG per year, and the three companies plan to provide these LNGs to commercial vessels by 2020.
Earlier, the Arab ship also signed a similar memorandum of understanding with Shell and Qatargas on April 17. Qatargas, one of the world's three largest LNG suppliers, and Shell, the world's largest LNG trading company, said that in the current market of oversupply, it is imperative to find new customers. According to financial consultancy Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., the average annual production capacity of LNG producers will reach 424 million metric tons by 2025, an increase of 45%, which means that the LNG market will be available for at least 7 years. More than the situation. At the same time, shipping companies are increasingly concerned about clean energy due to further restrictions on sulfur emissions by the United Nations International Maritime Organization.
Arab ship CEO JornHinge pointed out that from a shipping perspective, LNG will be further promoted as a marine power in the world in the next two years. At present, there are some LNG powered marine ecological areas in operation in the world. These areas are mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States. LNG is used as marine power in the region, but such systems are not found on a global scale.
LNG power boat will create new market
For the shipping industry, LNG is still in its infancy as a marine fuel. The maritime industry still relies mainly on oil as a base fuel. But Bernstein predicts that by the end of 2020, 2.5% of the ships in the global fleet will use LNG power. Martin Wold, senior environmental consultant at DNV GL, also said that of the current fleet of more than 50,000 ships, the number of LNG-powered vessels is 77, and the number of LNG-powered vessels under construction is 85. Bernstein predicts that by 2020, the number of LNG powerboats will reach 360, which is five times the number of LNG powerboats currently in operation.
At the same time, the introduction of new regulations is also driving the growth of LNG powerboats. The new regulations of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO), which was launched in January 2020, announced the global ban on the use of fuels with a sulfur content of more than 0.5%. In the current general marine fuels, the sulfur content can reach 3%. The Arab ship said that the company has planned to spend 23 US dollars on LNG power newbuilding and related projects.
In the past, the lack of LNG refueling stations and the tight supply of LNG led to the widespread popularity of LNG powerboats until 2014. LNG refueling related facilities have been carried out in some parts of Northern Europe and the United States, the Rotterdam gas supply project is about to be put into production, and the Singapore and China projects have also made progress. Emirates Shipping is also considering LNG as a marine alternative fuel.
Since the projects in Australia and the United States have started to be put into production, LNG prices have continued to decline since 2014 and have fallen by 80%. According to DNV GL, the current business case is not strong enough to be used for many shipowners, but when LNG fuels are being taken in the future, these shipowners will reconsider LNG as a marine fuel.
According to Bernstein, since 2013, the global shipping industry has used about 70,000 tons of LNG. By 2020, this demand is expected to increase to 10 million tons, but compared with the 2013 fuel consumption of 372 million tons. It is a small part.
Gerd-Michael Wuersig, director of the DNV-GL LNG fuel-powered vessel business, previously said that the number of ships using LNG fuel is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the related infrastructure projects on the main route are also increasing. LNG applications are expected to grow faster in the next 5-10 years. The trend of using LNG as a marine fuel will continue to rise, and the number of global LNG powerboats will reach 1,000 by 2020.
Gerd-Michael Wuersig stressed that energy products are likely to be highly diversified in the next 40 years. LNG is not the only choice for future marine fuels, but it is the best choice. The application of LNG depends on the development of fuel prices, technology, specifications, access to natural gas, and the development of infrastructure.
Despite this, the LNG power retrofit will take some time, and the promotion of LNG marine fuel cannot be achieved overnight. With the arrival of the new rules in 2015, most shipowners have chosen a solution that uses low-sulfur fuel or an exhaust gas purification system. However, in the next few years, LNG fuel will gradually become a negligible item in the choice of marine fuel.
“For ships that are built today, it is necessary to prepare for the 2020 or 2025 low-sulfur oil restrictions. From this perspective, LNG fuel ships are proactive,†Gerd-Michael Wuersig said.
paper tube packaging,cardboard tube packaging,packaging paper tube
Shenzhen Xinhaichang Paper Products Co., Ltd. , https://www.xhcpackaging.com