Port of Klaipėda examines 140 ships for quality of exhaust gases using drones

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Oct 07, 2023

Port of Klaipėda examines 140 ships for quality of exhaust gases using drones

Unmanned drones were assigned to carry out surveillance of waters of Klaipėda port and the movement of ships, to measure the amount of sulphur in the exhaust gases of ships, amongst others. Published

Unmanned drones were assigned to carry out surveillance of waters of Klaipėda port and the movement of ships, to measure the amount of sulphur in the exhaust gases of ships, amongst others.

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The Port of Klaipėda on Friday (6 October) said it successfully monitored the Baltic Sea coast of Lithuania and the waters of the port with 140 ships examined for the quality of exhaust gases during a three-month drone mission.

The unmanned drones were assigned to carry out surveillance of the waters of Klaipėda port and the movement of ships, to measure the amount of sulphur in the exhaust gases of ships and to record cases of water pollution.

The drones were equipped with a variety of equipment – a sensor for the amount of sulphur in exhaust gas, a range finder, GPS coordinate locator, as well as usual and infrared cameras that detect oil stains in water during the day and night. The footage captured by the drone cameras was recorded and broadcasted live to the inspectors involved in the project.

The drones flew five days a week in the port of Klaipėda and in the Baltic Sea looking for possible violations of environmental protection. Flying at the harbour gates, the drone studied exhaust gases of every ship entering the harbour. The drone’s sensor was able to determine the percentage of sulphur in the ship’s fuel.

Algis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport Directorate, said: “While participating in this project and having the opportunity to use modern tools, we evaluated ship emissions and the impact of loading processes on the environment. During the project, the harbour water area was directly monitored by drone.”

“The available results of the observations made during the mission will allow us to make the most effective decisions on how to prevent possible violations, should they occur. Our priority goal is to make the port as environmentally friendly as possible. When implementing the concept of a green port, we have planned environmental protection measures, that will help to go in the direction of ‘greening’.”

Chief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė Šešplaukė, said: “In Lithuania, the implementation of international and national agreements on ships is controlled by the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection.”

“We are glad that with the help of modern technology we were able to check the sulphur content of the fuel of every ship entering the port, 140 ships were checked, seven exceedances were recorded by drone – after conducting inspections on two ships, the exceedances were not confirmed. The possible violations of the other 5 ships were recorded after leaving the port, therefore, the administrations of the flag states were informed in order to initiate inspections.”

Photo credit: Port of KlaipėdaPublished: 11 October, 2023

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MPA licensed bunker suppliers, at the request of customers or owner of receiving vessel, must provide a POS or similar documentation from a recognised scheme together with the Bunker Delivery Note.

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The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Monday (16 October) issued Port Marine Circular No. 11 of 2023 informing MPA licensed bunker suppliers to provide a Proof of Sustainability or similar documentation together with the Bunker Delivery Note for biofuel bunker deliveries:

ISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORE

This circular serves to inform all bunker suppliers and bunker craft operators licensed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on the requirements to issue a Proof of Sustainability (POS) from a recognised scheme together with the Bunker Delivery Note when biofuel is supplied to vessels in the Port of Singapore.

This circular should be read in conjunction with PMC 21 of 2022 – Supply of biofuel within the Port of Singapore to vessels, where amongst other requirements, bunker suppliers had been encouraged to supply International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) certified biofuel.

The 80th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the “Interim guidance on the use biofuels under regulations 26, 27 and 28 of MARPOL Annex VI (IMO DCS and CII)”. This was promulgated via MEPC.1/Circ.905 for application from 01 October 2023. The circular is attached as Annex A.

Arising from MEPC.1/Circ.905, from 01 October 2023, MPA licensed bunker suppliers, at the request of their customers or the Master/owner of the receiving vessel, must provide a POS or similar documentation from a recognised scheme together with the Bunker Delivery Note (BDN).

When a POS or similar documentation is provided to the receiving vessel, the bunker supplier must also provide to MPA Standards and Investigation – Marine Fuel (SIMF) Department (i.e. [email protected]) a copy of such documentation. MPA will conduct random checks and contact the bunker suppliers for additional details as and when necessary.

This circular is for an interim period only, until a more comprehensive method is developed for international shipping to calculate a fuel's Emission Conversion Factor reflecting the emissions based on the LCA Guidelines by the IMO. For the nationally determined contributions to emission reduction for the national emission reduction goals and the use of biofuels for harbourcraft where the greenhouse gas emissions are reported, the relevant factors used can be referenced to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.

For calculation of the CO2 Emission Conversion Factor (Cf) for international shipping, suppliers are to adopt the calculation methodology set out in MEPC.1/Circ.905.

Should you have any queries, please write to us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Note: The Annex A of the circular can be found here.

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Photo credit: Manifold TimesPublished: 16 October, 2023

Steve Bee, VPS Group Commercial Director, provides an insight on the firm’s experience of testing methanol as a marine fuel including the very first methanol bunker quantity survey.

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Steve Bee, Group Commercial Director of marine fuels testing company VPS, provides an insight on the firm’s experience of testing methanol as a marine fuel including the very first methanol bunker quantity survey:

Introduction

As the shipping industry looks to decarbonise and become net zero by 2050, ship owners and operators are looking at alternative fuels with a lower carbon footprint in order to reduce overall emissions from their fleet. In Europe this is linked to the EU ETS scheme coming in 2024 and also the FuelEU Maritime[1] legislation coming in 2025. As part of the ever-changing marine fuel mix, methanol is now being seriously considered as a low-carbon fuel to assistshipping in achieving its decarbonisation targets.

Methanol (CH3OH) is a liquid chemical used in thousands of everyday products, including plastics, paints, cosmetics and fuels. Liquid methanol is made from synthesis gas, a mix of hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. These components can be sourced from a wide range of feedstocks, using different technologies.

Renewable methanol is an ultra-low carbon chemical produced from sustainable biomass,often called bio-methanol, or from carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity.

Renewable methanol can be made from numerous and plentiful sources which are globally available. The carbon molecules required to make synthesis gas for methanol production can be obtained from CO2 via industrial exhaust streams, or even captured from the air. Synthesisgas also can be produced from the gasification of any carbon source, such as municipal solid waste or forestry residues. Biogas, obtained through fermentation, from landfills, wastewater treatment, plants or animal wastes can also be used as a feedstock for methanol production.Additionally, renewable energy can power the electrolysis process to generate clean hydrogen for the production of renewable methanol.

Methanol is the world’s most commonly shipped chemical commodity and more than 95 billion litres are manufactured every year. It has been stored, transported and handled safely for over100 years. Since it remains liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, the infrastructure required to deploy it as a fuel, is largely in place: combustion engines, fuel cells and powerblocks can easily be adapted to use methanol.

Methanol as a Marine Fuel

The attraction of methanol to shipping, is that renewable methanol can significantly reduce greenhouse emissions to atmosphere including, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) by up to 95%and nitrogen oxide (NOx) by up to 80%, and eliminating sulphur oxide (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions.

However, there are numerous considerations regarding the use of methanol as a marine fuel.Firstly, methanol exhibits good burn characteristics, but will require a pilot fuel for ignition, eg a gas oil, or a biofuel. Further positives are, it is a liquid at atmospheric pressure, its bio-degradable and can run well in existing engine technologies.

However, methanol has a Flash Point of only 12ºC, which immediately raises questions relating to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requirements. SOLAS states no marine fuel with a flashpoint less than 60ºC should be onboard a vessel. Methanol has a low energy content,approximately 40%-50% of the more traditional fossil fuels used within the maritime sector.Methanol is highly reactive and therefore materials with which methanol may contact, should be inert, eg stainless steel.

In order to achieve the Tier III NOx requirements, pure water must be added to methanol prior to burning. This allows for approximately 30% less NOx emissions compared to fossil fuels.

VPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and Testing

In July 2023 VPS were requested by Maersk to undertake the very first methanol bunker quantity survey (BQS). This took place in Singapore for Maersk’s first methanol-powered container ship, the Laura Maersk.

Prior to this first methanol delivery, various levels of pre-delivery work were required including,the delivery barge tank-cleaning operation and a part loading of methanol to the barge, to ensure no cross-contamination could take place, during the actual delivery. VPS, as part of theBQS operation, also undertook the required closed-sampling procedure, to safely harvest representative samples of the methanol delivered to the vessel, which were then transferred toa VPS Laboratory for quality testing.

In the 12 months leading up to this BQS, VPS invested heavily into new laboratory equipment and R&D in order to provide a comprehensive testing and advisory service in relation to methanol as a marine fuel.

In order to safely transport methanol samples to the VPS laboratory, the transfer via aeroplane,had to comply with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), rules for the transportation of dangerous goods. It is worth noting when considering using methanol as a marine fuel, it is the person sending methanol samples for testing, who must be trained and accredited to the IATA standards, ie the vessel crew, or vessel agent.

The testing of the samples from the Laura Maersk bunkering, was conducted to theInternational Methanol Producers and Consumers Association (IMPCA) test slate. The key test considerations here were, the purity of the methanol, the presence of ethanol, water content,the presence of acetone, chlorides, the acidity of the fuel, sulphur content and numerous other impurities, which could be detected.

Following the Singapore bunkering the Laura Maersk set sail for Port Said, Egypt, where VPSrepeated the BQS, Sampling and Testing of the methanol delivered to the vessel. The final bunkering stop took place in Rotterdam, where VPS once again completed the BQS operation,sampling and testing.

The VPS surveying and testing of these three methanol bunker stems, showed the fuel delivered matched the Bunker Delivery Note (BDN) and the Certificate of Quality (CoQ).

VPS and Methanol Bunker Fuel

VPS have proven that safe, accurate and reliable, quantity surveys and sampling of methanol can be undertaken. Plus, following significant investment in state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, plus analyst and advisory training, VPS can also provide accurate analytical testing of methanol samples to determine the quality of the fuel and provide the necessary and valuable marine engineering advice, to support ship owners and operators when they look to use methanol as their low-carbon marine fuel of choice.

VPS are currently working with numerous shipping companies, suppliers and engine manufacturers on testing their methanol samples and sharing our experience, expertise and innovative approach in helping them gain a greater understanding of this low-carbon fuel.

With more than 160 methanol-powered vessels currently on order, it is inevitable that methanol use will significantly increase within the maritime sector and VPS have proven high-levelperformance to support the industry in this aspect of it’s decarbonisation journey.

Related: Dr. Nicholas Clague shares VPS’ experience with alternative bunker fuels

Photo credit: VPSPublished: 16 October, 2023

ENGINE team launched a project to map out all the physical bunker suppliers that offer biofuels in ports and investigated what was available in different regions.

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As a growing part of the shipping industry is exploring ways to trim its carbon footprint, the ENGINE team reports that biofuels are making waves and finding their way to bunker ports around the world.

We often get asked variants of the question: "Where can we bunker biofuels?"

For every region and port that was enquired about, we had to investigate what was available. As the information accumulated in leaps and bounds, we decided to launch a project to map out all the physical bunker suppliers that offer biofuels in more and more ports.

It’s a moving target, and this is some of what we have uncovered so far.

East of Suez

Biofuels are starting to become more common in Singapore, but so far they have only made up a fraction of the port’s total bunker sales. B24 (24% biofuel) is the standard blend ratio as sea-going bunker barges are restricted to carrying 25% biofuel and as suppliers seek to err on the safe side of that requirement. Prices are often quotes as a premium over very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and the typical biofuel grade is fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), which is also called biodiesel.

A couple of Chinese bunker suppliers have started offering biofuel blends for delivery in Zhoushan and Guangzhou, and another two have brought them to Hong Kong. As biofuel blends don’t qualify as bonded bunkers in mainland China, in which value added tax (VAT) is waived for VLSFO, it makes less sense for Chinese refiners and blenders to blend them with VAT-exempt VLSFO. The suppliers therefore import finished B24-VLSFO blends from Singapore and other places before they are sold in Chinese ports.

B35-MGO blends are available in Indonesian ports because of a national 35% minimum biofuel blending mandate. But these derive from palm oil and are not sustainable. Palm oil’s close connection to deforestation means they won’t qualify under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) programme or as renewable fuels towards upcoming European Union (EU) regulations.

In the Middle East there is one major producer and wholesaler of waste-based biofuels. The UAE-based producer has struck supply deals with two physical bunker suppliers in the country, where it collects used cooking oil (UCO) from McDonalds restaurants and other sources. One of the suppliers has so-called ISCC-certification, which requires the biofuel to meet certain sustainability criteria throughout its lifecycle. From a small base, the producer says that bunker demand has doubled in each of the past three years, and that demand is expected to grow exponentially in the years to come.

Europe & Africa

Rotterdam dominates the global biofuel bunkering scene. Around 6% of all of the bunkers sold in the first half of this year was blended with biofuels, and that was down from an even stronger 8% last year. More biofuel trials and regular refuelling of ships have taken place in Rotterdam than in any other port and a greater number of suppliers offer biofuels there.

Local biofuel processing capacity, imports from China and competition between bunker suppliers in a burgeoning biofuel bunker market provide economies of scale in Rotterdam and contribute to keep prices in check.

But perhaps the biggest reason behind its growth is simple. Rotterdam is Dutch, and the Netherlands has generous market mechanisms in place for biofuels sold for bunkering, particularly for advanced waste-based biofuels. In fact, the price incentives have worked too well and pulled biofuel feedstock away from the road fuels market. The road fuels market faces tougher blending mandates, and more biofuels are needed to meet them, the government told ENGINE.

To rebalance the biofuel scales between road and marine, the Dutch government has launched a consultation with a proposal that could effectively halve the biofuel rebate multiplier. This could see Rotterdam’s discount of more than $200/mt to Singapore be slashed to about half that.

Mediterranean bunker suppliers are also starting to catch the biofuel wave. A few suppliers across Gibraltar, Spain, Malta and Italy now offer blends. Some typically need a week or two of lead time to source, blend and deliver the fuel to ships. One supplier has struck a deal with a ferry company that has tested biofuels blended in small ratios on a ferry with the upcoming FuelEU Maritime regulation in mind.

A lack of biofuel demand in South Africa and Mozambique has meant that suppliers have so far held back on bringing it to market. Some are saying they hope to pursue biofuel in the future.

Americas

US biofuel bunkering is struggling to gain traction in the absence of government subsidies. While harbour crafts and road vehicles enjoy subsidies, ocean-going vessels do not. This has meant that comparable B30 biofuel blends have been prohibitively expensive in Houston compared to Rotterdam for example.

Unlike Rotterdam and the rest of the EU’s upcoming CO2 and greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations, there are also no nationwide US environmental regulations to incentivise uptake of biofuel blends by ships. Customer demand will therefore likely come from ship types close to the end consumer, like ferries, cruise ships and container ships.

Some bunker suppliers have already announced readiness or intent to offer. These include California, where local environmental regulations have boosted uptake of 99% renewable diesel (R99), which differs from FAME in that it is not chemically esters. Canada’s Vancouver, the US Gulf Coast, Colombia’s Cartagena and Brazil make up some of the other places with biofuels on offer.

The Panama Canal is likely the biggest bunker area in the Americas, but a joint venture of companies that was previously buoyant about the prospect of building at least one biorefinery and importing biofuels for bunkering and other transport fuel markets has more recently cast doubts about its feasibility. "The issue is feedstock and competing with current subsidies in the US and EU markets that hog and distort [the] price of feedstock," one of the companies told ENGINE.

Meanwhile, a recent entrant to the US Gulf Coast’s biofuel bunker market has been championing a mass balancing approach. Its pricing is based on the feedstock type, but thanks to mass balance accounting the feedstock purchased does not necessarily need to be the feedstock in the fuel consumed by that buyer’s ship. Blends based on UCO, soybean oil and tallow are current options, and more waste-based biofuel alternatives is expected to follow in the future.

To help shipowners get more clarity around what’s available where, ENGINE will come out with more detailed overviews of biofuel bunker supply by region and port later this year.

By the ENGINE team: Shilpa Sharma, Nithin Chandran, Queeneerich Kharmawlong, Konica Bhatt, Debarati Bhattacharjee, Aparupa Mazumder, Tuhin Roy and Erik Hoffmann

Source: ENGINEPhoto credit: ENGINE / Shaah Shahidh on UnsplashPublished: 16 October, 2023

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Algis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport DirectorateChief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė ŠešplaukėISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORERelatedRelatedRelatedRelatedIntroductionMethanol as a Marine FuelVPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and TestingVPS and Methanol Bunker FuelRelatedEast of SuezEurope & AfricaAmericasAlgis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport DirectorateChief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė ŠešplaukėISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORERelatedRelatedRelatedRelatedIntroductionMethanol as a Marine FuelVPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and TestingVPS and Methanol Bunker FuelRelatedEast of SuezEurope & AfricaAmericasAlgis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport DirectorateChief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė ŠešplaukėISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORERelatedRelatedRelatedRelatedIntroductionMethanol as a Marine FuelVPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and TestingVPS and Methanol Bunker FuelRelatedEast of SuezEurope & AfricaAmericasAlgis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport DirectorateChief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė ŠešplaukėISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORERelatedRelatedRelatedRelatedIntroductionMethanol as a Marine FuelVPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and TestingVPS and Methanol Bunker FuelRelatedEast of SuezEurope & AfricaAmericasAlgis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport DirectorateChief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė ŠešplaukėISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORERelatedRelatedRelatedRelatedIntroductionMethanol as a Marine FuelVPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and TestingVPS and Methanol Bunker FuelRelatedEast of SuezEurope & AfricaAmericasAlgis Latakas, director general of the Klaipėda State Seaport DirectorateChief specialist of the Marine Environmental Protection Inspection Gintarė ŠešplaukėISSUANCE OF A PROOF OF SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE BUNKER DELIVERY NOTE FOR BIO-FUEL DELIVERIES TO SHIPS ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IN THE PORT OF SINGAPORERelatedRelatedRelatedRelatedIntroductionMethanol as a Marine FuelVPS Completes the First Methanol Bunker Quantity Survey, Sampling and TestingVPS and Methanol Bunker FuelRelatedEast of SuezEurope & AfricaAmericas