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The appeal of LNG as fuel for maritimeapplications continues to grow, as energy costs continue to soar, emission stan- dards tighten and acceptance of the new tech helps to drive down the cost of ac- quisition and life-cycle maintenance. For an update, Maritime Reporter examines recent developments. A number of leaders have emerged globally in the technical specification of both transporting and using LNG as amarine fuel, but among the classification societies perhaps none has been as pro-gressive as Det Norske Veritas (DNV) .Anyone familiar with the class society knows that environmental mandate lies at its core, and LNG as marine fuel iswidely regarded as a savior of sorts in terms of emission reductions from ma-rine vessels. Based on operational experience and safety records, DNV seems convinced that LNG is the fuel of the future, and theorganization has rolled out a number of high-profile concept vessels, led by the DNV Triality project to introduce a VLCC concept, and followed by the Ecore (Very Large Ore Carrier Concept) and its Quantum containership concept.The Triality design incorporates three environmental features; a ballast free and V-shaped hull design, a VOC re-conden- sation system and the prime element ?LNG as fuel. Employing a 13,500 cu. m. LNG fuel tank with an operational rangeof 25,000 nautical miles, the design ele-ments allow a 34 percent reduction in CO2 emissions. While LNG comes filled with promise, there remain hurdles that will take years to traverse. ?The biggest challenge right now is the infrastructure; simply put the ability tofuel the vessels,? said Tony Teo, Business Development Director, DNV North America Maritime. The situation as it stands is the classic ?chicken and the egg?: does the industry invest in LNG vessels and hope that ample bunkering stations pop up; or is the investment in in- frastructure needed to spur new invest- ment in vessels. According to Teo, at the outset, the fuel option will be attractive to carriers that run predictable routes ? shuttle tankers, passenger ferries, even cruise ships ? to be able to concentrate LNG fueling in-frastructure in a rationale manner. Recently, the matter of using LNG as fuel was studied in depth for the Wash- ington State Ferry system, culminatingin the January 2012 report "Evaluatingthe Use of Liquefied Natural Gas in Washington State Ferries." (http://www.leg.wa.gov/JTC/Pages/LN GasFerryFuel.aspx) The study investigates the use of LNG for fuel on Washington state ferry vessels ? existing vessels, as well as the planned 144-car class vessels, addressing the fuel consumption benefit of LNG compared with diesel; Coast Guard regulations for storage and transport of LNG; securityrisks and strategies to reduce risk; the im- pact of LNG on vessel performance, in- cluding vessel speeds; and marine insurance costs, and capital cost associ-ated with utilizing LNG on vessels. In 2010, WSF ? which fuels its fleet with a blend of biodiesel and ultra low sulfur diesel ? consumed more than17.3 million gallons of fuel, and diesel fuel represents 29.2 percent of WSF's 2011-2013 biennium operating budget, or $135.2 million.The study is comprehensive in the ex- amination of both newbuild and retrofit projects for the company's full range of vessels, but an over-riding theme was: the cost for construction of new vessels is higher, balanced with a tremendous po- tential savings in fuel due to the switch to LNG, and the recommendation of em-ploying design, classification and con- struction yards with previous experience on the specific technology. Is North America Ready to Catch Up In Europe more than 100 vessels use the LNG for propulsion , including ves- sels that deliver LNG. The growth has been fueled by shortsea shipping, ferryservices and offshore supply boats. Wärtsilähas played a major part in theLNG expansion with a leading market share in both number of vessels and hours running. These four-stroke engines em- ploy technologies that provide low emis- sions and maximum fuel efficiency in several different engines sizes ? the Wärt- silä 50DF, 34DF and 20DF. Their design influence does not stop at the engines.Wärtsilä also provides LNGPac, a com- plete LNG storage system with bunker- ing station, delivery controls, cold box compartment and glycol-water heating unit.The ContainershipsWhile DNV has taken the lead on many matters LNG, it certainly is not the onlyclass society to study, and forward the no- tion of this alternative fuel. Bureau Ver- itas (BV) has given approval in principle for the basic design of a 14,000-teu con-tainership to be powered by LNG. The design was developed in a joint industry project between Korea?s Daewoo Ship- 26Maritime Reporter & Engineering News FEATURE LNGLNG as Fuel: The Time is Now The ConceptsDNV has been progressive debuting three major concept designs for LNG-powered ships inlcuding a VLCC (Triality , pictured left); a Very Large Ore Carrier ( Ecore ) and aContainerhip (Quantum) (pictured below) MR March 12 # 4 (25-32):MR Template 3/6/2012 12:27 PM Page 26