Global acceptance of LNG bunkers unlikely this decade
Acceptance of liquified natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel is "unlikely this decade," according to comments at Tuesday's Eco-Dollars Business Breakfast in Singapore, Asia Shipping Media who organised the event reported today, Ship & Bunker reports.
"It is all driven by the price of bunker gas," said Iain Wilson, regional marine manager for Lloyd's Register Asia, echoing the August conclusion of a one year study into LNG bunkering by LR.
"The problem at the moment there is not a global mechanism to monitor that pricing so there are too many unknowns at the moment. It is down to economics," he added.
Shaj Thayil, VP, Technical Services & Ship Management at Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL) said LNG pricing was likely to be 15 percent more expensive than bunker oil, and that added with the loss of cargo space because of the larger fuel tanks needed for LNG means it would take a long time for the industry as a whole to accept gas as a marine fuel.
"Gas will take three or four more times as conventional fuel holds," said Manish Singh, group managing director, Ideocean Holdings.
Singh also thought that "predictable supply of LNG will be an issue," although LR's Wilson said that as "70% of bunkering is done today in 10 ports worldwide" that the infrastructure could be done "relatively simply."
Wilson also noted the current lack of global standards and regulations for LNG as a fuel.
"There is a lot of procedural things that need to be done as well as the training qualifications," he said, "Will you need a gas-qualified engineer onboard?"
A recent study by Lloyd's Register, who also sponsored the free event, said LNG bunkering is likely to be adopted for short sea shipping in ECAs over the next 13 years, and Singapore, Rotterdam, and Gothenburg all said recently that they will have LNG bunkering in place for 2015.
Neil Gilliver, President of Rolls-Royce's Merchant sector said last month that LNG as a vessel fuel is "indisputably the best long-term solution for ship owners."
