A new generation of LNG bunker vessels, coupled with improved communications and increasing bunkering experience, will ensure safe refuelling for the growing LNG-fuelled fleet
As CMA CGM’s LNG-fuelled container ship CMA CGM Scandola is topped up by bunkering vessel FueLNG Bellina in the Port of Singapore while unloading cargo, the entire process is closely watched on a bank of screens onshore by general manager FueLNG, Saunak Rai and his team.
This virtual observation of the transfer – in this case a total of 7,100 m³ – is a vital element of the safety procedures developed by port authorities, FueLNG Bellina’s 50:50 owners Shell and Keppel, and CMA CGM which has committed to a fleet of LNG-juiced box ships.
As Mr Rai told a Riviera Maritime Media-organised webinar entitled LNG bunker vessels – designing for safety in early August, onshore monitoring supplements the ship-board operations. “We can help the vessels troubleshoot any problems if they arise.” Sponsored by LNG Shipping & Terminals, the event was part of LNG Shipping & Webinar Week, held in early August.
Right now, problems look unlikely given the thoroughness with which the parties launched the port’s first LNG bunkering operation with the FueLNG Bellina, which Mr Rai describes as “the world’s first smart LNG bunker vessel”; it is the first LNG bunker vessel to receive a Smart notation from ABS. Among other features, he cites its innovative bunker boom, flexible fendering that does away with extra tugs, the versatility that means the vessel can receive vessels with different types of cargo-containment systems, such as IMO Type B tanks and GTT membrane, while handling any ship from Aframax tankers and container ships to chemical oil tankers and bulk carriers.
“This is the future,” he said.
The refuelling of the CMA CGM Scandola, which took place in late March 2021, marked several milestones for floating LNG. It was the first ship-to-ship operation by FueLNG Bellina, the port’s first LNG bunker vessel. In an important time-saver, it was also the first simultaneous cargo and LNG-bunkering operation for any ship in Asian ports. And, for good measure, it was the first container ship to be LNG-bunkered in Singapore.
And with port authorities watching closely, including the senior minister of state for transport and foreign affairs, Mr Chee Hong Tat, it was all done smoothly.
The successful refuelling of CMA CGM Scandola, one of six new 15,000 TEU, LNG-powered containership which CMA CGM will have bunkered in Singapore in 2021, set up a busy year for FueLNG and FueLNG Bellina. With a capacity of 7,500 m³, the bunkering vessel is down to deliver between 30-50 ship-to-ship operations in 2021 and more than 300 truck-to-ship operations.
“We see increased interest in LNG-fuelled vessels with more on order across various ship types”
Six weeks after refuelling CMA CGM Scandola, FueLNG met another milestone with the bunkering of Shell’s Aframax Pacific Emerald, the first oil tanker to be LNG-bunkered in the port. That operation required the transfer of 3,000 m³ of LNG, as well as the gas-up and cool-down of the tanker.
Maritime Port Authority chief executive Quah Ley Hoon is in no doubt that LNG bunkering in the port has a big future. “We see increased interest in LNG-fuelled vessels with more of them on order across various ship types,” she said. “We look forward to an increase in uptake of LNG as a marine fuel in the Port of Singapore.”
In anticipation of more business, Singapore has licensed two more bunker operations – Pavilion Energy Singapore, which will be supplied by BP and, in late February, Total Marine Fuels, for an initial five-year period. The new operator will give the port a total bunker capacity of about 1.8M tonnes of LNG a year.
As Singapore develops operational protocols and experience in bunkering, the lessons learned will be shared with other ports. As Mr Rai made clear, from the start the focus has been on safe, efficient and reliable transfers, all prime requirements of the port authorities, set out in a detailed technical reference covering custody transfer, procedures and safety distance, and competency of personnel.
But as early as 2016, the authorities agreed a memorandum of understanding with a network of other ports that involves sharing any useful information about the intricacies of LNG bunkering. As of 2021, there were 11 members in the network, including five in Europe (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Marseille and the Norwegian Port Authority), four in Asia (Singapore, Japan’s ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, Ulsan Port Authority in Korea, and China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan], and two in North America (Jacksonville and Vancouver).
As the memorandum states, among other things the purpose is to “establish a network of LNG bunker-ready ports across the East and West to encourage the adoption of LNG bunker by ship owners.”
And that looks to be happening as intended. Shell, one of the owners of FueLNG Bellina, is pumping money into a global LNG bunkering network while also investing in an LNG long-term charter fleet. In Shell’s LNG Outlook report, the energy giant calculates that global bunkering demand will grow to 30M-50M tonnes a year by 2040.
That is a big increase on today. Shell estimates there are about 400 LNG-fuelled vessels in operation or on order at present, enough to boost demand to nearly 3.5M tonnes a year for marine fuel alone. CMA CGM already has an LNG-thirsty fleet of containerships, which will grow to 32 as soon as the end of 2022, according to its CEO for the Asia-Pacific, Stephane Courquin.
Based on a poll during the webinar, delegates do not see finding LNG to refuel their ships as a problem. Asked ‘Which alternative fuel has the largest global availability today?’ 82% responded ‘LNG’, followed by 9% for ‘hydrogen’, 7% ‘ammonia’ and 2% ‘methanol’.
A second poll asked, does ‘LNG as a marine fuel provide a distinct pathway to 2030 and 2050 decarbonisation goals using bioLNG and synthetic LNG?” 75% of respondents either ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ with the statement, with 15% choosing ‘neutral’ and 10% ‘disagree’.
ESD guidelines
As the number of bunkering stations grows, they will have to operate more slickly, said Andrew Stafford, technical director for marine and infrastructure operation at Trelleborg. Ship-to-shore links are just one example. “We need to make communications as quick as possible without sacrificing safety,” he urged, noting: “Simple telecommunications seem to have been overlooked in bunkering.”
He anticipates a time when LNG bunkering will be no different from filling up at a petrol station, with all the protocols safely in place in a seamless operation. And Trelleborg is working in this very direction with an array of products designed to help in the building of ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transfers, for instance in the highly technical area of radio and other links in the event of emergency shutdowns (ESD).
“Simple telecommunications seem to have been overlooked in bunkering”
As Mr Stafford underlined, the technical guidelines in, for instance, ESD situations must be developed by all parties working together for the benefit of the industry. “We can only do so much of this individually,” he said.
As well as developing integrated ship-to-shore communications links that can survive emergencies, Trelleborg has unveiled several technologies that take bunkering closer to the Holy Grail of a gas station-type, plug-in operation. Its SmartPort solutions range from a rope-free automated mooring system for berthing, called AutoMoor, to a dynamic line-tensioning product dubbed DynaMoor, that dampens vessel movements. The latter “eliminates the effect that passing ships and long-period waves have on moored vessels,” explains Trelleborg.
Also, its pneumatic fenders are designed to absorb substantial shocks with a minimum of the bouncing that can imperil LNG transfers. And floating cryogenic hoses are intended to facilitate coastal and offshore transfers for crews.
In a poll ‘Which technology has the maximum impact in increasing LNG bunkering operation efficiency?’ 41% of voters chose ‘Quick connection/disconnection using bunker boom’, 35% ‘digitalisation and smart vessel’, 6% ‘Bigger LNG transfer pump’ and 9% ‘other’.
Blow up the ship – and learn
A trainee seaman has just blown up one of Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping’s vessels during an LNG bunkering operation. The trainee got the procedures wrong and the pump equipment exploded with catastrophic results.
But nobody is worried. This is just a virtual exercise, that allows trainees to make mistakes harmlessly.
In a collaboration with maritime start-up Kanda, a Denmark-based specialist in training through virtual reality, Eastern Pacific Shipping has designed a Lloyds Register-approved bunkering course that covers all of the 280 vital and complex procedures that safe LNG transfers require.
Delegates attending Riviera Maritime Media’s LNG bunker vessels – designing for safety webinar learned about the course from Kanda chief executive Kristian Andreasen. The webinar was sponsored by LNG Shipping & Terminals as part of LNG Shipping & Terminals Webinar Week in early August.
Mr Andreasen explained this is a “remote, immersive, digital learning experiences that trains seafarers on LNG bunking procedures in an easily accessible and enjoyable way.”
Enjoyable because the course uses elements of computer gaming that “revolutionise training methods”, Mr Andreasen said. “It is a digital classroom where people can interact with each other [and] it is certified to the same standards as physical training. There is no legal difference between digital and physical training,” he said.
In itself, that looks very much like a breakthrough in virtual learning. But Mr Andreasen went on to cite important savings in cost and time. Costs, for instance, come down by as much as 75% in the absence of physical replicas, flights and accommodation.
Judging from the flurry of questions from the webinar’s attendees, there will be considerable interest in virtual training as the LNG bunkering fleet expands. With at least 50 dual-fuelled vessels due in its fleet in the next two years, Eastern Pacific Shipping certainly sees opportunities in virtual training.
“During LNG bunkering, the seafarers onboard need to know how to check pressure lines, connect hoses in a specific sequence, and open or close the right valves at the right time,” pointed out the group’s special advisor for innovation, Gil Ofer. “Practising beforehand in a virtual environment builds the muscle memory that helps internalise these processes,” he said.
And, of course, prevents real vessels from being blown up.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.