With the deadline for implementation of IMO 2020 now in the rearview mirror, we are on what might be described as step two of a ten-step ladder to be climbed if shipping is to meet the ambitious IMO targets for 2030 and 2050 which ultimately call for a reduction in total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of at least 50% by 2050 compared with 2008 levels while simultaneously pursuing efforts to eliminate emissions entirely.
As construction of British Columbia’s first LNG export project moves ahead, we are reminded of a number of LNG export projects across the globe that have required courage and vision along with the acceptance of commercial risk to bring them to a successful final investment decision. The major LNG producers of Qatar, Australia, the United States, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia and Indonesia and Norway have each overcome challenges unique to their geography and environment.
To give this discussion some perspective, the International Chamber of Shipping, representing the full spectrum of maritime nations and related NGOs, often reminds us that 90% of world trade is reliant on marine transportation. While much of this is largely out of the public eye, the conduct of maritime commerce earns ship owners an estimated $500 billion annually in freight rates, much of which is reinvested, of necessity, in new tonnage.
With COP 25 concluding this week in Madrid, it is perhaps worthwhile to recognize the technologies being employed over the past decade in pursuit of the exponentially growing demand for installation of offshore wind turbines. A good example of the purpose-built heavy-lift jack-up vessels employed in this trade is Pacific Orca owned by Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO).
The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has recently highlighted the ongoing problem of dealing with containership fires. The problem is not a new one but with the increase in size of container ships in the last few years, dealing with such an event has become extremely challenging.
In July this year, the Royal Boskalis Westminster owned semi-submersible heavy lift vessel BOKA Vanguard loaded the LOA 324m x 37m beam cruise ship Carnival Vista for drydocking and repair of the vessel’s azipod propulsion system in the Grand Bahama Bahama shipyard Freeport, Bahamas. The unusual operation was an emergency solution to the closure of one of Grand Bahama Shipyard’s three drydocks following a crane collapse which damaged Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.
Based here in Vancouver, Canada, Methanex is the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol. The company operates production sites in Canada, Chile, Egypt, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States supported by a global supply chain of terminals, storage facilities and the world’s largest dedicated fleet of methanol tankers.
The futuristic design of some of today’s ships draws a variety of responses depending on whether you hold a traditional or futurist perspective. For those of us who began our careers on general cargo ships and/or on tankers with accommodation amidships, just at the time when the industry was flirting with the idea of fully cellular container ships, what is now the norm could hardly have been imagined.
Our industry is complex enough at the best of times but as we approach one of the most critical deadlines ever set by the IMO, minds are focused as never before on how best to respond.
So, what is the issue? A decision was taken by the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) at its 70th session in October 2016 to implement a global sulphur limit of 0.5% on approximately 50,000 ships worldwide effective January 1, 2020. This obviously represents a significant reduction from the current allowable global sulphur limit of 3.5%.
After beginning her maiden voyage from the Norwegian port of Tromso in early July this year the Hurtigruten expedition cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen has just become the first battery-hybrid powered ship to sail over 3,000 nautical miles through the Northwest Passage. She sailed from Kangerlussuaq in Greenland on August 20 to Nome, Alaska, arriving on September 10.
