Sulfur in Danish air halved since ship fuel limits imposed

 

Evidence for the dramatic reduction comes from measurements taken by a technologically advanced “nose” or “sniffer” installed on the Great Belt Bridge to monitor ships’ compliance with the new rules. Installed by the Danish Ministry of the Environment and Food, the sniffercan detect the use of illegal fuels by ships sailing under the bridge. 

The first air measurements performed by the sniffer show that 98% of ships comply with the sulfur standards and, according to a new report by the Danish Center for Environment and Energy at Aarhus University (DCE), the total content of airborne sulfur has been reduced by up to 60% since the new year. 

“Sulfur and particles are harmful to people, so it is good news that the new environmental requirements are having an effect. As the first country in the world, Denmark has implemented new technology to monitor ships’ emissions and ensure full compliance with the requirements. Significant economic savings are possible by circumventing the law, so monitoring and enforcement are important to avoid harmful pollution from the ships and an unfair competitive situation for the law-abiding shipowners,” says Minister for Environment and Food Eva Kjer Hansen.

The additional costs of fuel depend on the size and speed of the ship, but they can be up to DKK 1 million for a round trip journey between the English Channel and Baltic Sea.

Monitoring at the Great Belt Bridge is not the only measure. A sniffer is also installed on a small plane that monitors ships sailing along major shipping routes through Danish waters. If the sniffer measurements show that a ship is using illegal fuel, the authorities at the next port are notified so that they can stop the violation.  

Chalmers University developed the sniffer technology. The Ministry of the Environment and Food is funding the monitoring efforts, which cost DKK 6.3 million. 

“The Danish shipowners fully support the new requirements and there is a positive, close cooperation regarding monitoring and enforcement between the Ministry of the Environment and Food and the Danish Shipowners’ Association, under the auspices of the Partnership for Green Shipping,” says Director General Anne H. Steffesen of the Danish Shipowners’ Association. “Effective international enforcement is crucial to the industry and ensuring equal competitive conditions for all. Remote monitoring from bridges and aircraft can be an important part of ensuring compliance with the rules – especially when stricter requirements take effect worldwide by 2025, making international enforcement even more important.”

A joint international effort to ensure that ships comply with environmental requirements is important. Therefore, Denmark is currently working in the EU and the UN International Maritime Organization to ensure effective and uniform monitoring and enforcement.

New Eco-Ships launched at Hyundai Vinashin for d’Amico

The energy efficient design of two vessels, the 39,000 dwt Ice Class handysize tanker Cielo di Ulsan, and the 50,000 dwt product tanker High Trader, allow them to already meet IMO standards that will come into force in 2025.

With the addition of the two ships, the DIS fleet now controls through ownership, charters and joint ventures 51.83 double-hull tankers, with an average age of 7.6 years. It owns 25.33 vessels and charters another 26.50. The two eco-ships, worth a total of over $62 million, are a part of $755 million investment plan that DIS started in 2012 and which includes, to date, a total of 22 high performance vessels, 10 of which have already delivered.

Marco Fiori, CEO, d’Amico International Shipping S.A., says, “We have added two more ships of great construction quality to our young fleet, which are capable of offering our customers safety, efficiency and profitability.”

Both of these new tankers are under time charter contracts to two major international oil companies, one lasting 30 months and the other three years, managing to anticipate the extraordinary global demand in the transport of refined petroleum products, today favored both by the transfer of refineries (from the main consuming regions to oil production areas) and the decreasing of crude oil prices.

The 183m x 29m Ice Class Cielo di UIsan is equipped to operate in temperatures as low as -20°C. It will operate in routes in Northern Europe, the Arctic and the Northern Sea. This is the first model of a group of four ships that will join the DIS fleet, resulting from the joint work of the company’s engineers and Hyundai Vinashin.

The 183m x 32m High Trader is the sister ship of two other vessels already delivered to DIS. One of its selling points is that it can guarantee an average savings of 6 tons of fuel per day (with ship fully loaded and a constant speed of 14 knots) and consequently a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions. Moreover, the profitability of the ship is driven by its great commercial versatility: High Trader can carry up to nine different types of cargo during the same trip. Cielo di Ulsan and High Trader are equipped with systems for the treatment of ballast water so as to minimize the impact on marine ecosystems and comply with IMO3 and IMO2 requirements.

DIS has an extensive newbuilding program underway, with 12 new eco-ships on order, including three Handysize, three Medium-Range and six LR1, tankers under construction.

“This extremely positive moment on the market,” says Fiori, “and increasingly close relations with major oil companies and multinational manufacturers of vegetable oils, which request our ships more and more often, confirm that DIS has taken the right route. With the addition of other 12 eco-ships currently under construction by 2018, we will further consolidate our competitive position on the global shipping market that today already sees us among the leaders.”

 

 

USCG issues new policy letter on BWM compliance

 

Blank Rome says that vessel owners and operators may realize a cost savings by a delayed compliance date, which would allow time for the approval of U.S. Coast Guard type-approved ballast water treatment systems before other systems are installed.

The firm says that owners and/or operators should therefore review the compliance dates for their vessels and consider applying for an extension if they will face a hardship coming into compliance with the Coast Guard’s Ballast Water Management rule in light of the fact that there are no type-approved systems as yet or any practical alternatives.

Issued September 10, 2015, revised Policy Letter 13-01 gives updated guidance to vessel owners and operators on BWM methods and streamlines the application process for vessel owners and operators to obtain extended compliance dates for implementing BWM methods, principally the installation of treatment systems.

Notable updates, says Blank Rome, include removing the five-year limit on cumulative extensions, clarifying “batch” and supplemental applications, deleting the requirement to submit vessel Ballast Water Management Plans with extension requests, and allowing extensions to vessels that choose to install Alternate Management Systems (AMS) accepted by the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard has also provided template application forms and recommendations regarding applying for extensions.

Read the full Blank Rome Action Item HERE

Download the policy letter HERE

First Ballast Water Treatment Deck Modules delivered

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 – Seattle, WA, based engineering consultancy Glosten reports that Marine Systems Inc. (MSI) has delivered a pair of Ballast Treatment System Deck Modules, designed for tank barge and ship

Asian owner opts for Optimar for BWTS retrofits

 

“This is a major contract, with a global leader in shipping,” says Optimarin CEO Tore Andersen. “Due to confidentiality clauses we can’t say who it is, but we can say that this firm, like many others we have reached frame agreements with, has chosen our system due to our unparalleled expertise in retrofitting and the reliable performance of our proven BWT solution.”

Optimarin says the contract was secured thanks to its retrofit expertise and market proven technology.

The first of the Optimarin units has already been installed, with two further systems following at the beginning of next year, and two more in spring 2016.

Goltens Green Technology, which entered into an agreement with Optimarin last year as a “preferred retrofit partner,” will manage all design and supervision from its Singapore office.

BWTS installation work will be performed at Chinese shipyards with Goltens using its proven retrofit process, employing precision 3D laser scanning and modeling as the basis for detailed design, prefabrication and streamlined system installation.

Goltens and Optimarin have joined forces on nearly 60 worldwide retrofit assignments so far and Mr. Andersen says this shared experience leads to fast-track, problem free installation, with most projects – where prefabrication and preparatory engineering work is completed – concluded within a week.

Optimarin, which fitted the world’s first commercial BWT system in 2000, has now fitted over 270 BWT systems worldwide, from an orderbook that has seen over 350 orders placed. The modular, reliable and easy to install and maintain nature of the system has made it, says Optimarin, the leading retrofit choice for vessels up to 60,000 dwt.

“Our solution combines simplicity with innovation, utilising a combination of automatic back flushing, self cleaning filters and UV irradiation to neutralise all organisms, bacteria and pathogens in ballast water,” Mr. Andersen comments. “We’ve been developing this technology for the past 21 years and that experience is a compelling proposition for owners and yards that, with the ratification of the IMO’s Ballast Water Management (BWM) convention on the horizon, need solutions that they can trust… and need them soon.

“This is particularly true in Asia,” he adds, “where we’re now working with shipowners of the stature of Pacific Radiance, Chellsea and EMAS, while winning newbuild contracts from yards such as ASL Shipyard, Jurong SY, Keppel Singmarine, China Merchant Heavy Industries and Oshima Shipbuilding.”The ten vessels, each requiring 1,000 cu.m/h system capacities, are managed from Hong Kong.

Optimarin recently completed work on extensive in-house testing facilities at its headquarters in Stavanger and its BWTS is currently undergoing a full program of USCG approval testing. It already has IMO approval, USCG AMS acceptance, and certification through DNV GL, BV, RMRS and CCS.

Bio-Sea BWTS chosen for 18,000 TEU containership

The U.K.-flagged Vasco de Gama has a length of 399 m and beam of 54 m.

Delivered July 27 (see earlier story) by China State Shipbuilding Corporation, it is thus largest containership ever delivered from a Chinese shipyard.

Bio-UV says it has been cooperating closely with a great number of partners, including the CMA CGM Group, in order to provide modular, reliable, innovative and energy saving ballast water management systems that are effective in all
water qualities.

The Bio-Sea system uses filtration and high power UV to treat ballast water without requiring any chemicals.

Press release BIO SEA CMA 4

VIDEO: Chilean Navy scuttles salvaged ferry

Following the grounding, the ferry, the 126.31 m Amadeo I operated by Navimag, was parbuckled and refloated by Resolve Marine, in an operation that was the subject of a case study presented at this year’s Marine Log Marine Salvage Conference by Sam Kendall-Marsden, Syndicate Director, Charles Taylor and Co. Limited and Todd Schauer, Director of Operations, Resolve Fire & Salvage (Americas), Inc.

Subsequent to the salvage, however, insurers declared the vessel a Total Constructive Loss.

amadeo 500pxThe Chilean Maritime Authority (DIRECTEMAR), which is a department of the Chilean Navy, granted permission for the vessel to be sunk under its supervision in 2,700 m of water, northwest of Puerto Natales and over 70 km off Diego de Almagro Island.

Photo from DIRECTEMAR shows Amadeo I prior to parbuckling operation

The sinking was the final chapter in a story that began in 1976 when the vessel was delivered by Norwegian shipbuilder Trosvik Versted as the Seaspeed Dana. Since then, the vessel had sailed under a variety of owners, flags and names.

According to the Chilean Navy, DIRECTEMAR decided that the vessel should be sunk as hull damage was so extensive as not to allow for safe passage during towing to a port for scrapping. Dismantling the ferry in situ was also ruled out because of the risk of serious environmental impact from what would have been a long operation in a location subject to extreme weather conditions.

The Chilean Navy says that prior planning to ensure compliance with strict precautions for the protection of the marine environment meant that the sinking went “smoothly and according to plan.”

Australia bans Indonesian lemon for three months

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 — The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned an Indonesian flagged general cargo ship from entering or using any port in Australia for three months. The ship is

CO2 emissions: Shipping is part of the solution

ICS, whose membership comprises national shipowners’ associations from 37 countries representing more than 80% of the world merchant fleet, has some key messages for government negotiators on the progress shipping is making to reduce its carbon footprint.

According to ICS, the global industry is already delivering carbon neutral growth having reduced total CO2 emissions by more than 10% since 2007, despite an increase in maritime trade.  

CO2 emissions from international shipping now represent just 2.2% of the world’s total CO2 emissions compared to 2.8% in 2007 (UN IMO Green House Gas Study, 2014). 

“These are genuine reductions through fuel efficiency, without the need for complex virtual measures such as carbon offsets,” said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe. “With bigger ships, better engines and smarter speed management, the industry is confident of a 50% CO2 reduction by 2050 when the entire world fleet will comprise super fuel-efficient ships, many using clean fuels such as LNG.” 

But in the run-up to the Paris Conference, the shipping industry recognizes that governments expect more.
IMO has already set a mandatory target whereby all ships built from 2025 (including those in developing nations) must be 30% more efficient than ships built in the 2000s.  This applies to over 95% of the world merchant fleet, under new regulations that came into force worldwide in 2013. 

ICS says that IMO is the only place that can ensure that the entire world fleet will continue to deliver further CO2 reductions, regardless of a ship’s flag, while respecting the United Nations Framework – Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) principle of “Common But Differentiated Responsibility.” 

ICS stresses that the 10% CO2 reduction achieved since 2007 is across the shipping sector globally, not just ships registered in richer countries which are the only nations required to make commitments for land-based CO2 reductions under the current Kyoto Protocol on climate change. 

“The entire world fleet is about 20% more efficient than in 2005.  With the support of the shipping industry, IMO has already achieved a great deal and is the only forum that can deliver further significant CO2 reductions from international shipping,” said Peter Hinchliffe. 

A new ICS fact sheet “Delivering CO2 Emission Reductions: Shipping is Part of the Solution” can be downloaded HERE

Trojan Marinex books 12 ship BWT retrofit order

“Being the first in the world to have submitted for United States Coast Guard Type Approval, we are committed to providing vessel owners the certifications they need to not interrupt their business of trade,” says Christian Williamson, Senior VP at London, Ontario, based Trojan Technologies. “Ulusoy required not only regulatory compliance confidence but also a solution that was both compact and seamless to operate, minimizing disruption to the vessel and crew. We are very pleased to be able to meet their needs.”

“Trojan Marinex is able to offer a highly valued solution – compact, low power draw systems, an integrated service network, and compliance confidence,” says Mesut Cesur, General Manager, Ulusoy Denizyollari Isletmeciligi A.S. “We are impressed with their commitment to obtain United States Coast Guard Type Approval, and strongly feel that their systems are the best fit for these twelve vessels.”

Trojan Marinex BWT system testing for USCG Type Approval was conducted under the supervision of DNV – a certified Independent Lab (IL) by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). It was conducted in accordance with the EPA’s Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Ballast Water Protocol — a testing requirement for systems to obtain USCG Type Approval. The system is tested and approved to one of the lowest UV transmittance values in the industry, under full flow conditions, and in all three salinity ranges – fresh water, brackish water, and marine water. The entire product suite has achieved IMO Type Approval and USCG AMS Acceptance. In March 2015, a formal application for USCG Type Approval was submitted – this was the first application in the industry.

The Trojan Marinex BWT combines filtration and UV integrated in a single, compact unit. Thanks to TrojanUV Solo Lamp Technology, the system has an extremely low power draw, making it an attractive solution for large vessels such as bulkers and tankers

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