Fuels for the future
July 2010 looks like a busy month at the IMO headquarters in London.
The beginning of the month sees the entry into force of the revised MARPOL Annex VI governing fuel quality – specifically sulphur content of fuels burned in emission control areas. The limit is not being lowered by a great deal – 1% rather than the previous 1.5% - but the revision focuses attention on next year’s Tier II limits, and effectively forces the use of distillate fuels in ECAs. Some owners are going for the after-treatment solution, of which there are now several versions. Most though will have to suffer the extra cost of distillates, or the inconvenience and potential dangers of operating on two different, incompatible, fuels. Concerns have been expressed on the effect of the fuel changeover on boilers, but a more serious concern is the effect of low-viscosity distillate fuel, which has lower lubricity, on fuel pumps designed for residual fuels. Pumps are available which can handle both fuel types, but many ships risk failure of their fuel systems.
1 July also sees the entry into force of various SOLAS amendments. Anything to enhance safety has to be encouraged, but shipowners are notoriously late to act and there may well prove to be the usual shortage of new equipment in the lead-up to the next surveys. Most of the amendments concern operational practices, and many have an impact on ship design. One such amendment is the new paragraph that states there should be sufficient visibility from the navigation bridge to allow safe exchange of ballast water at sea. A rather more fundamental change is the revised standards for passenger ship safety, which put an emphasis on ‘get you home’ measures, calling for increased redundancy of propulsion and other systems. Although instigated by the ever-increasing size and capacity of cruise ships, the new rules impact on other vessels, including ro-pax ferries.
Other significant changes include fire protection and life-saving appliances; the latter requiring a wider range of lifejackets to suit different size and weights of passengers, as well as standardising on colours, and specifying temperature ranges which the appliances should withstand during storage and use.
The fuel changes are likely to affect our readers the most: it is interesting to see that whereas the industry felt distillate fuels should be widely adopted, the realisation is that this is looking less attractive, because of the vast increase in production capacity that would be needed. Instead, the medium to long term view is now favouring alternative fuels, with LNG the favourite. To reflect this, The Motorship is planning a conference on LNG fuelled ships later in 2010.
