Stuart Edmonston, Loss Prevention Director at UK P&I Club (UK P&I) says the industry still has concerns over the use of low-sulfur fuels, and the need to comply with mandates regarding their use in ships is placing an increasing demand on shipowners.
UK P&I: Concerns Remain as Low Sulfur Fuel Rules Place Increasing Demands on Shipowners
Increase Business Reducing CO2 Footprint – The Maersk Way
Maersk Line published yesterday its Sustainability Progress Update for 2013, showing a 3.8 million tonnes CO2 reduction in a year where the business grew 4.1%.
Climate Change: Ensuring Trade at Lower Carbon Intensity
Maersk recently launched a new sustainability strategy with the aim of accelerating the company’s positive impacts. The purpose is to address significant sustainability challenges in society which at the same time constitute bottlenecks to Maersk’s growth strategy.
ECSA Position Paper on CO2 MRV System
As an addition to the ECSA position paper issued in October 2013 on the European Commission proposal for a CO2 MRV system on maritime transport, ECSA issued a position paper urging the EU legislators to refrain from extending the scope to ships above 400 GT and from including NOx/others GHG emissions which would respectively result in unnecessary administrative burden on small ships and in impractical monitoring issues in the proposed EU Regulation.
New Inline Scrubber System by Wärtsilä
According to Wärtsilä the new inline scrubber system design that has been developed by the Company lowers cost, saves space, and eases installation.
Monitoring of Bunker Fuel Consumption
Monitoring of fuel consumption and GHG emissions from international shipping is currently under discussion at the EU level as well as at the IMO. There are several approaches to monitoring, each with different characteristics. Important differences exist with regards to the costs of the equipment, operational costs, the accuracy of the measurements, and the potential to monitor emissions of gases other than CO2. Moreover, some approaches offer more opportunities to improve the operational fuel-efficiency of ships and fit better to possible future policies than others.
UK Report Claims Sulphur Targets Could Increase Emissions & Cause Loss of Jobs
A report, published last March, by AMEC, shows that the targets for shipping companies to reduce their sulphur emissions by 2015, could cause adverse environmental effects and result in a loss of 2,000 maritime services jobs, and place many more industrial jobs under threat. The report is the first of its kind to examine the full impact of hitting sulphur targets.
The Impact of International Shipping on European Air Quality
Due to its dependence on fossil fuel combustion and the fact that it is one of the least regulated anthropogenic emission sources, emissions from the marine transport sector contribute significantly to air pollution and climate change. The European Environment Agency last March published a report on the impact of international shipping on European air quality. The main objective of the report was to provide a comprehensive review of recent literature and reports, taking into account expert knowledge, on the maritime transport sector. The report addresses the sector’s impact on air quality and climate forcing in Europe and the executive summary of the report is presented in this article.
LNG Fuel Bunkering in Australia
The global sulphur cap of 0.5%, which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will implement between 2020 and 2025 is expected to accelerate the adoption of LNG as fuel for shipping globally, provided that bunkering infrastructure is available. Corresponding developments for LNG bunkering and phasing-in of LNG fuelled ships have already started, although not in Australia.