Page 60: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2013)

60 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? MAY 2013 TECHNICALLNG FOCUSEmissions regulations from 2015 onwards are driving shipowners to a crossroads on fuel selection. Ahead of Euro- port 2013, Rotterdam, Dutch interests are making signiÞ cant waves in tangible investments in LNG as a fuel option. While there is not consensus on the potential of liqueÞ ed natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, the concept is gaining traction rapidly as using LNG reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon diox-ide (CO2) emissions from ships, as well as allowing operators to meet restric-tions set in Sulfur Emission Control Ar- eas (SECAs) today, which tighten from 2015 onwards. With the clock ticking, the coming legislation and the potential for LNG fuel as a viable choice will be a key focus at Europort 2013 Rotterdam November 5-8, 2013. The LNG option offers an alternative to low-sulfur marine gas oil (MGO), which is already favored by some owners for use within Sulfur Emission Control Areas (SECAs). Its attractions offer even more promise be- yond 2015, particularly if not enough distillate is available to meet market requirements and alternative scrubbing technologies to continue burning heavy fuel oil remain insufÞ ciently mature. However, there are signi Þ cant obstacles to overcome, including developing the necessary bunkering infrastructure to support LNG as an alternative to heavy fuel oil and distillates and completion of regulations on shipboard storage of LNG.Encouraged by government backing and in line with the hub status of Dutch terminals along the Northern port range, companies based in the Netherlands are stepping up to promote LNG as a marine fuel, including the presentation of their progress at the Europort Advanced Tech- nology Conferences. For the Port of Rotterdam itself, LNG as a fuel has already been earmarked as a strategic growth opportunity. The Port, which predicts becoming a LNG bunker- ing hub by 2030, recently announced a new partnership with Port of Gothenburg looking to promote the fueling option. The aim of the memorandum of under- standing is for the ports to work together to have LNG bunkering facilities in place in both locations by 2015. The deal is likely to be the Þ rst of a number of joint initiatives with other ports involv-ing Port of Rotterdam, with a view to creating an end-to end-network of LNG bunker opportunities. Maurits Prinssen, Project Manager at the Department of Port Planning & Development/ Shipping of Port of Rot-terdam, said, ?Commitment at the Euro-pean level is needed for this and the part-nership with the Port of Gothenburg will be a very important strategic alliance. We believe that Europort 2013 will offer the ideal networking opportunity for key industry players to exchange knowledge and experience as the industry faces a turning point on fuelling.?Port of Rotterdam is also working with the leading terminal operator ECT and has made land available for an LNG Þ ll-ing station between the Gate LNG im-port terminal and the Euromax container terminal. Shareholders in the Gate, Vo- pak, are understood to want to build a smaller outbound terminal on an adja-cent site so that LNG imported to Gate can be supplied as fuel for ships, as well as for land-based uses. This concept involves developing a breakbulk LNG facility that will feed satellite LNG ter- minals in northern Europe and rely on a bunker barge that could deliver LNG to inland waterway, short sea and deepsea vessels calling at the port of Rotterdam. One company leading the line in terms of Þ rm commitments to LNG as a fuel has been Deen Shipping, which has been operating the inland waterway barge Ar- gonon for almost a year. The Þ rst barge of its type in the world capable of run-ning on both LNG and diesel, the 110m long, 6,060 dwt tanker has been designed to burn an 80/20 mix of LNG and diesel. ?The Þ rst 12 months of running this barge have been an extremely positive experience, and this has convinced us that LNG is the fuel of the future for in-land shipping,? said Gerard Deen, own-er. ?Operating the Argonon has demon- strated that LNG as a fuel is very clean, cost efÞ cient and reliable compared with marine gas oil.?Argonon has two standard Caterpillar 3512 engines that use 20% diesel to ig-nite the gas mixture. These engines have LNG Tech on tap at Europort 2013 The Port of Rotterdam predicts becoming a LNG bunkering hub by 2030 Peters Barge MR #5 (58-65).indd 60MR #5 (58-65).indd 605/2/2013 2:43:24 PM5/2/2013 2:43:24 PM