Capital presses ahead with OPS technology in tanker fleet

The Greek shipping giant told Riviera that 10 tankers in its managed fleet are OPS fully certified, and six vessels are OPS-ready. Capital’s fleet consists of 32 tankers, with a total carrying capacity of 6M dwt, including vessels currently under construction. This fleet comprises 13 VLCCs, six Suezmaxes, six Aframax/LR2 vessels, and seven MR/Handy product tankers.

In late February, Capital announced it had successfully completed the world’s first tanker OPS compatibility assessment in collaboration with Lloyd’s Register. This development means six of the company’s newbuild tankers, set for delivery between 2025 and 2027, will be fully compatible with the shore power infrastructure at the Port of Long Beach (POLB) in California. 

The Suezmaxes – Argeus, Aristoklis, Archelaos, Aristodimos, Ayrton, and Amor – will be ready for seamless connection to shore power at berth. According to Capital’s website, all these vessels will also be powered by dual-fuel LNG engines.

Regulatory pressures

With the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2020 regulation for tanker emissions control taking effect on 1 January 2025, shipowners are under pressure to adopt shore power solutions.

In a recent note, marine insurer Gard explained that since 2014, CARB has regulated emissions from container, refrigerated cargo, and passenger vessels visiting certain state ports. Starting 1 January 2025, the regulation also applied to tanker vessels visiting the Ports of Los Angeles or Long Beach.

“The wrong configuration could lead to non-compliance with port requirements and penalties from CARB, which came into effect this year,” said Lloyd’s Register global tanker, emerging oil markets and future fuels segment director Theo Kourmpelis.

Capital chief technical officer Nikolas Vaporis, emphasised, “Working with Lloyd’s Register, we managed to become world pioneers in the compatibility aspects of tankers cold ironing concerning POLB’s onshore power supply requirements.”

Notably, Capital recently took delivery of two Aframax/LR2 vessels, claiming them to be the first newbuild tankers ever to be equipped with certified AMP (cold ironing) systems.