In the mid-term, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is going to remain an optimal type of fuel complying with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Sovcomflot President & CEO Igor Tonkovidov said at the 5th LNG Fleet, LNG Bunkering and Alternatives conference held in Moscow on October 27. In the opinion of the speaker, ammonia, hydrogen and methanol will be able to compete with LNG in the horizon of four to eight years with LNG expected to keep a certain share of the bunker market for the longer term.
Igor Tonkovidov emphasized that IMO is currently considering some proposals on carbon regulations. According to Sovcomflot CEO, the most balanced of them is the one initiated by the International Chamber of Shipping on establishment of a fund to finance the research on zero carbon marine fuel.
“Introduction of alternative fuel technologies will mean additional capital expenses for ship owners and, consequently, entail the growth of transportation costs”, said Igor Tonkovidov.
The fleet of Sovcomflot numbers six Aframax tankers powered by LNG with five more ‘Green Funnel’ tankers under construction (to be delivered in 2022-2023). Sovcomflot is also actively involved in the development of LNG bunkering infrastructure. In 2021, the first locations for LNG bunkering were opened in cooperation with Shell in North America (Port Canaveral, USA) and in the Mediterranean (Port of Gibraltar). Between October 2018 and October 2021, ‘Green Funnel’ Aframax tankers performed 175 LNG bunkering operations with the total volume exceeding 73,000 tonnes of LNG fuel. According to Sovcomflot, from the beginning of 2021 the company has reduced CO2 emissions from its ‘Green Funnel’ tankers by 18.5% compared to emissions from conventional tankers.