The Gas Fuelled Ships Conference is the only event to include technical visits and, as ever, this year’s Conference, entitled ''Fuelling the Future of the Shipping Industry'', is proving to be very popular. It will be held from 13th to the 15th November 2017, taking place onboard the Viking Mariella, boarding in Helsinki.

On day three of the conference, delegates aboard the Viking Mariella will be able to attend a panel discussion entitled 'moving to future/advanced fuels/hybrid solutions' which will engage with an important contemporary issue – modern alternative fuels other than LNG.

The first half of the twenty-first century has borne witness to a monumental shift in fuels of choice. In the past two centuries shipping’s power and propulsion has progressed from sail to steam to diesel and, onboard the Viking Mariella, panellists will discuss alternative fuels in the industry.

A recent article in The Motorship magazine, official supporter of the GFS conference, revealed that hydrogen appears to be one of the most promising clean fuels with potential shipping application, but highlighted, as with many other renewable energy sources, it raises a wide variety of technical, safety and regulatory challenges. The attraction, particularly given current environmental tensions in the shipping industry, is that it offers zero-emission operations - making it a mighty contender in the quest for shipping industry decarbonisation.

In other developments, Teekay have recently decided to employ batteries and volatile organic compound (VOC) as fuel for a series of up to four shuttle tankers after receiving a NOK132.9 million (€14.0 million) grant from Norway’s state-owned innovation platform Enova.

New technology developed by Teekay and Wärtsilä mixes VOCs – waste gasses emitted from crude oil during loading, unloading and storage – with LNG to be used by the ship’s engines. The use of VOCs, combined with the first ever battery installations on a shuttle tanker, is expected to cut LNG use by 34%. The company confirmed that the batteries will be used for peak shaving – enabling engines to run at optimal load by taking excess load when needed and charging from engines when power demand is low. Shore power connections will not be included.

Despite the growing number of hydrogen-related marine projects, industry opinion on the suitability of this fuel and others remains divided – another excellent reason to hear the thoughts of industry-experts in the discussion panel on day three of the Gas Fuelled Ships Conference.

Panellists for session 9 - 'moving to future/advanced fuels/hybrid solutions' include:

  • Gerd Wuersig, DNV GL
  • Joacim Westerlund, Technical Manager, Viking Line
  • Madadh MacLaine, Business Development Manager – Maritime, ITM Power
  • Nina Savijoki, B.Sc., Sales Manager, Deltamarin Ltd
  • Mathias Jansson, Business Unit Manager – Fuel Gas Handling, Wartsila

Contact the Events team on +44 1329 825335 or email gasfuelledships@motorship.com to book your place as time is running out!