There are many levers to be tightened in the environmentally sound transformation of the maritime industry. But where to start? We have asked classification societies. This is the reply from Mark Darley Director, Marine & Offshore, Lloyd’s Register.[ds_preview]
There is a the need for a transformation in training and skills to ensure future fuels/energy sources are taken up safely.
Class has the expertise, experience and knowledge to help maritime supply chain stakeholders address the challenges our industry faces. One of the key challenges we must rise to collectively is providing a safety framework for supporting the decarbonisation of the sector.
Safety can never be taken for granted. Low and zero-carbon fuels/energy sources do present significant risks and it is now important that concept projects continue to move forward into large-scale demonstrators. The industry must be agile and the right balance for future fuel safety frameworks must be struck. It is essential that whilst we ensure rules do not prohibit development, we do not compromise on safety either.
Decarbonisation is a process, the IMO has set out an ambition to reduce GHG emissions from shipping by at least 50 percent by 2050. For that outcome to be achieved safely, we need a comprehensive transformation agenda which responds to the second and third-order consequences of a new energy system in shipping.
Safety standards under the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) convention need to rapidly mature into a training and skills framework. The framework needs to enable seafarers to manage and work within the complex systems on ships that are likely to be in operation from the mid-2030s and beyond.
Training is required across all sectors, not just for the seafarers, but for naval architects, Equipment manufacturers, shipyards (new and repair) as well as ports.
Each alternative fuel being evaluated has some form of risk attached. The choice of methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, biofuels or others will depend on a vessel’s operating profile as well as cost and availability.
Ammonia – a future fuel expected to account for 20 % of industry usage by 2050 as outlined in the Shipping Decarbonisation Survey by LR and Lloyd’s List – can cause fatalities with concentrations in the air as small as 0.25 %, making the fuel highly toxic to people.
There is a need to understand the potential negative impacts on human lives, water and soil in case of leakage or accidents, and how to mitigate these types of risks. A new safety pathway will be essential as ship owners take up ammonia as an alternative fuel.
Hydrogen, another prospective future fuel, has a boiling point of –252.9°C, presenting significant storage and fuel supply system challenges. Hydrogen is also highly flammable and is not easy to detect. To make it accessible, the industry will need harmonised regulations and classification rules for the storage, handling and bunkering of hydrogen.
LR has already laid the groundwork for operational safety in Methanol usage as a future fuel with the publication of the Methanol Bunkering Technical Reference. The Technical Reference provides safety management protocols that, when applied, would significantly reduce concerns around methanol flammability and toxicity in methanol bunkering.
We cannot, however, write prescriptive rules without prototypes. Green corridors will be the key to supporting first-mover activity and learning. LR has put this into action with our »Silk Alliance« green corridor project.
Our Maritime Decarbonisation Hub is working with 11 leading cross-supply chain stakeholders to develop a fleet fuel transition strategy that can enable the establishment of a highly scalable Green Corridor Cluster in Southeast Asia. Ships themselves will of course need to adapt for the long-term, potentially requiring new fuel tanks, modified engines and fuel supply systems, but this will be a small element of the total cost of operation.
We also need demonstrators entering service in controlled environments to allow for controlled testing. It is therefore vital that concept projects move forward into large-scale demonstrators. The industry is now starting to see this happen. LR for example is involved in the Castor Initiative, a seven-party cross-supply chain collaboration behind ammonia fuelled zero-emission VLCCs.
Each energy transition pathway will come with its own portfolio of opportunities, challenges and uncertainties. It is our responsibility to recognise these and build them into investment decisions.
The maritime decarbonisation journey will continue for several decades, and it calls for collaboration and regulatory and policy certainty so that we can all safely navigate the changes ahead.
