The industry must move away from the assumption that a single solution will encompass all stakeholder requirements, says Yara Marine Technologies (YMT) chief sales officer Aleksander Askeland
The maritime industry is poised on the edge of a revolutionary transformation – the coming decade is likely to usher in greener operations, increased automation, new technologies and global co-operation on an unprecedented scale.
The industry must use resources effectively if it is to make this transition in a truly sustainable manner – and it must move away from the assumption that a single solution will encompass all stakeholder requirements.
After all, the decarbonised future will not consist solely of newbuild vessels. There must be space for the existing fleet which can use technology and efficiency tools to ensure it reduces its impact on the environment. Discarding our existing global fleet would undercut the goal of sustainability. The most efficient means would be to optimise the existing fleet until these vessels are phased out and replaced by modern vessels.
Operators have multiple options on hand to make their fleets greener. Some shipowners may also choose to retrofit their vessels to use low carbon fuels such as LNG or methanol – or even explore the use of fuel cells, but this may not be suitable for all vessels and is expensive. Furthermore, the uncertainty around the global availability of alternative fuels makes this a risky proposition.
By contrast, scrubbers grant operators the flexibility to use existing fuels without compromising on their commitment to greener operations. The ability to choose the fuel is important not only to allow the vessel the ability to bunker in any part of the world, but also for managing fuel costs. Fuel costs, particularly for very low sulphur fuel oil and distillates, are increasing – and there is concern the ongoing geopolitical situation will see prices go even higher in coming months.
It is thus no surprise an increasing number of vessel operators are choosing to install scrubbers on their vessels.
It is worth noting the modern range of YMT scrubbers has been upgraded to deliver enhanced performance in a modern operating environment. They prevent over-scrubbing and only use the exact amount of water required to help the vessel meet compliance standards. This has the added benefit of cutting down on power consumption, which of course, results in lower fuel consumption and reduced emissions.
Rather than monitoring this manually, the process is directly carried out by YMT Ratio Control, which constantly reads the continuous emissions monitoring system’s ratio value.
We are also exploring means to make our range of scrubbers compatible with emerging fuels so that, irrespective of the fuel mix in the market, our customers can rely on our technology to help them meet their emissions targets.
The goal of holistically improving a vessel’s overall efficiency to the maximum extent possible is core to our ethos at YMT. There is no doubt minimising the amount of fuel burned is the best way to reduce the impact of shipping on the marine environment and earth’s atmosphere.
This is why we hope operators will reap the benefits of combining our scrubbers with other technologies. An easy example is vessel optimisation solutions, which enable operators to balance a vessel’s shaft power, fuel consumption and/or speed to meet predetermined parameters.
We believe vessel operators and other maritime stakeholders must use all the tools at their disposal to make our industry as energy efficient and green as possible.
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