Shipowners’ Low Carbon Fuel Options Gain Speed
Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. January 13, 2021 Lars Liebig, Managing Director, Uniper Energy Dubai (UED)
In the next decade, we’ll see more accelerated change in shipping fuels than we’ve seen in the last century. What does this heightened diversity mean for shipowners? They must be nimbler than ever – a shift that requires work. It means greening supply chains, bolstering energy efficiency, nurturing more partnerships, streamlining costs, and becoming adept at green finance (frequent change can be expensive to start with). All will help shipowners’ fuel portfolios adapt to the inevitable need for a greener status quo as the global push for a lower carbon world intensifies – and maritime fuels are often caught in an unflattering spotlight.
Stretching ‘green’ possibilities for shipping fuels
In this decade, we’ll see more accelerated change in shipping fuels than we’ve seen in the last century.
What does this heightened diversity mean for shipowners?
They must be nimbler than ever – a shift that requires work. It means “greening” supply chains, bolstering energy efficiency, nurturing more partnerships, streamlining costs, and becoming adept at green finance (frequent change can be expensive to start with). All will help shipowners’ fuel portfolios adapt to the inevitable need for a greener status quo as the gpush for a lower carbon world intensifies – and maritime fuels are often caught in an unflattering spotlight.
Need to get it done
Overhauls can be stressful for any industry, but there’s good news. We know that the supply chain for bunker fuels, including shipowners, can react quickly. We’re nearly one year into the International Maritime Organization’s (IMOs) ruling to cut the sulphur limit on bunker fuels from 3.5 per cent to 0.5.
Removing these three percentage points marked one of the bunker fuel industry’s biggest overhauls in decades. The ruling was designed as part of the IMO’s initial greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy to cut carbon intensity of international shipping by 40 per cent by 2030, compared to 2008. And it wasn’t cheap.