Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure business unit president Richard Hepworth explains the drivers behind the sector’s evolution
“Nearly everything we do is involved in the interface between the ship and the shore, or the ship and another ship,” explained Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure business unit president, Richard Hepworth. Indeed, about 40% of Trelleborg’s Marine and Infrastructure business is in some way related to the LNG industry. This includes import and export terminals, LNG shipping, and LNG carriers. The company’s equipment facilitates the safe and efficient transfer of LNG onto the ship from, or from the ship onto, the jetty, in tanks.
Mr Hepworth said that Trelleborg does not offer personnel services for LNG transfers, such as crew and officers. “That is a highly skilled team of crew and masters that bring the ships together, or to shore,” he said. “Trelleborg provides the equipment and services that allow them to accomplish the transfer safely.”
Trelleborg’s equipment portfolio includes advanced pneumatic fender systems, safety couplings and transfer systems, hoses, docking and mooring solutions and navigation and piloting systems. “Our piloting systems provide a very high degree of accuracy, one centimetre accuracy, when bringing ships together,” said Mr Hepworth.
He explained how this system was developed in commercial ports for pilots to guide ships into ports, and that it was adapted for use in the offshore sector and in ship-to-ship transfer applications.
“Trelleborg will develop its portfolio to meet the challenges of hydrogen, ammonia, and other alternative fuels”
One area of transfer that remains at the core of the Trelleborg business involves fenders. “It looks like a simple product, but it is made to ISO standards and is crucial in keeping the ships a safe distance apart,” he said. At Gastech 2023, Trelleborg announced a new fender, six metres in diameter and 11.5 metres long. “This was developed for the FLNG market, where a gas carrier for export arrives alongside a much larger FLNG vessel,” explained Mr Hepworth.
Cryogenic hoses are another hallmark of Trelleborg, reinforced by its takeover of rival Gutteling BV in 2021. Trelleborg now provides the famous white hose as part of the LNG product portfolio.
Acquisitions to build the LNG transfer portfolio have been a theme of Trelleborg’s recent business strategy; the Trelleborg stand at Gastech 2023 featured a scale model of a hose transfer system from another recently acquired business – Klaw LNG.
New directions
As the industry evolves, Mr Hepworth explained a key challenge involves adapting to the fact that the LNG shipping industry has moved away from bilateral trade, where the same vessels call at the same terminals as part of a long-term dialogue.
“Now, there is swap-trading taking place,” he said, “Ships need to be able to go anywhere and that raises questions over compatibility. Our ship-to-shore link provides that standardisation.”
This link is an essential component in the LNG industry. It is a common data and communications link to control transfer systems and emergency shutdown safety systems. It is a widely used system on terminals and vessels. “I think nearly all new LNG carriers are fitted with our system,” said Mr Hepworth.
“The LNG bunkering solution will provide a cleaner marine fuel in the mid-term and beyond”
The booming LNG carrier orderbook has produced a significant change, too. “Trelleborg has an office in Korea that has traditionally done all installation, commissioning and maintenance works out there,” he said. “But the Korean yards are full, and the work has spilled over into China.”
He continued: “Now that China is building LNG carriers, it is not going to stop once this order boom is over. I think China is here to stay as a builder of LNG carriers.” This is why Trelleborg has a factory in China employing around 400 people.
Trelleborg also focuses on service and maintenance contracts for existing hardware. This includes a team of around 50 engineers who fly around the world attending to LNG terminals, ships in drydock and elsewhere, as part of master service agreements.
Mr Hepworth said that Trelleborg will continue to develop its portfolio to meet the new challenges of hydrogen (in its various forms), ammonia, and other alternative fuels, of which cargoes are increasing as demand develops across shipping and other industries. “In five years’ time,” he said, “we could very well find ourselves gathered here once again at Gastech 2028 to showcase even greater advancements and innovations.”
Small-scale ship-to-shore project unvieled
A project to use a new ship-to-shore technology to transfer LNG to tanker trucks onshore for onwards inland distribution to inland final users has been unveiled by Swiss renewables producer, Axpo, and Italy’s Gas and Heat SpA.
The technology, developed by Gas and Heat SpA, is said to guarantee a substantial reduction in bunkering time, ensuring efficiency and productivity for ship operators. It marks the first application of such technology in Europe.
The bunker vessel will be built in the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard in Piombino, Italy and is expected to begin operations in 2025 on a 10-year charter.
The project was set up in collaboration with the Italian government’s infrastructure and transport ministry and the Central Tyrrhenian Sea and Naples port authorities.
Axpo small-scale LNG manager, Daniele Corti, said: “Together with Axpo Italia, we are pleased to be part of an important initiative that will help enable the transition to carbon neutrality and, for the first time in Europe, employ this new bunkering technology to supply markets with cleaner fuel.”
The ship will have a capacity of up to 7,500 m3 and could potentially transport bio-LNG and ammonia when those fuels become viable.
Axpo head of continental Europe merchant trading, Marco Saalfrank, said: “The demand for sustainable solutions in the maritime industry continues to increase significantly, in line with IMO’s strategy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. With the industry expected to achieve a reduction of up to 40% in the carbon intensity of shipping by 2030, the LNG bunkering solution will provide a cleaner marine fuel in the mid-term and beyond.”
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.