Low-sulphur Fuel Oil Prices Drop
Prices for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) in ports around the world have fallen within the first month since the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) new regulation for a 0.50% global sulphur cap for marine fuels has taken effect.Singapore has seen one of the largest drops in the price of VLSFO, which peaked on January 7, 2020 at $740 per metric ton (MT) and dropped $99 to $641 per MT on January 22, BIMCO points out.Prices rose in December as shipowners transitioned…
Low-sulphur Fuel Sales Surge
The final quarter of 2019 marked a massive decline of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) sales, as the industry transitioned into compliance of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) 2020 Sulphur Cap (IMO 2020). In Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub, the bunker sale landscape saw significant change as the sale of high-sulphur fuel oil dropped tremendously in a matter of months. In contrast, the sale of low-sulphur fuels skyrocketed in the final quarter.The first wave…
AEGIR-Marine to Open Middle East Office
AEGIR-Marine has announced a new office in Dubai, UAE. The maritime stern tube seal and propulsion system service provider will now operate out of offices in the Netherlands, Singapore, Shanghai, Namibia, USA and UAE. The Dubai service team will focus its activities on both the strong Middle East oil and gas industry in addition to the company’s core business of commercial vessels.“In terms of stern tube seal and propulsion system service and parts, we are filling the gap between equipment makers and maritime service providers.
Borr Drilling Takes Delivery of Newbuild Jack-Up From Keppel
Offshore drilling contractor has taken delivery of a newbuild jack-up rig from Singapore's Keppel. This is Keppel's first rig delivery in 2020.Keppel said Wednesday that the offshore drilling rig, named Heimdal, was built to Keppel's KFELS B Class design and is the fifth of eleven jackup rigs that Borr Drilling has ordered from Keppel.Tan Leong Peng, Executive Director (Newbuilds) of Keppel O&M, said, “We are pleased to deliver our first rig of the year, which is also the fifth jack-up rig that we have built for Borr Drilling.
Scrubber, BWTS Retrofits Drive Keppel in 2019
Scrubber and ballast water treatment system refits have helped to maintain brisk business at shipyards globally, as shipowners upgrade ships to meet regulatory mandate. In Singapore, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. reports that it has won 104 scrubber and BWTS retrofit orders worth a combined value of $118 million year-to-date, bringing the total number of retrofit projects secured to date to 108 scrubber and 97 BWTS projects.“Installation of scrubbers and BWTS can be highly complex and there has been strong demand worldwide to meet regulatory deadlines…
Ferry Stena Estrid Completes Sea Trials
Stena Line’s "next-generation" ferry Stena Estrid has arrived in Holyhead after completing sea trials and a five-week, 10,000 mile journey from China to the Irish Sea where she will begin service early next year on her inaugural route from Dublin to Holyhead.Designed by Deltamarin and constructed at the China Merchants Jinling Shipbuilding Weihai Shipyard in China, Stena Estrid is the first of Stena RoRo’s nine next-generation E-Flexer Ro-Pax vessels in a series which include five for Stena Line and several additional vessels that will be on long-term charter for other ferry operators.
Augmented-Reality Enters Maritime Maintenance
New TechGuide maintenance app from MAN CEON represents new generation of instructional material.As the global maritime community embraces new digitalization technologies aimed at reducing costs and enhancing safety onboard ships, MAN CEON, which is MAN Energy Solutions umbrella brand for all its digital products, comes to the fore for TechGuide, and augmented reality maintenance platform.The new generation of instructional material with augmented reality features a mix of different multimedia.
CMA CGM and Total to Develop LNG Ship Refueling in Marseille
Container shipping firm CMA CGM will use the French Mediterranean port of Marseille for refueling some of its planned gas-powered vessels, backed by a supply partnership with energy group Total.Total will supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a refueling barge to enable CMA CGM to refuel LNG-powered vessels at the Marseille-Fos hub starting in 2021, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.The initiative covers five vessels with a capacity of 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent…
Asian Refiners Strive to Finish IMO Preparations
At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), but also relying on blending to produce IMO 2020 compliant bunker fuel.The different approaches…
K Line, FueLNG Team-up on LNG Bunker
Japanese shipping firm Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has announced that it has concluded a ship management agreement with FueLNG Pte Ltd for a 7500 m3 LNG bunkering vessel (LBV).FueLNG will own and operate the vessel, as well as carry out all commercial operations, said K Line press statement.The partnership will combine K Line’s extensive ship management and LNG transportation experience with FueLNG’s LNG bunkering expertise, which includes more than 160 truck-to-ship LNG bunkering operations conducted to-date.
Malaysia Bans Open-loop Ship Scrubbers
Malaysia has prohibited the use of open-loop scrubbers by ships plying Malaysian waters, as Southeast Asia's third-largest economy joins the growing number of nations adopting new industry guidelines on reducing sea pollution.New regulations from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will require shippers to adopt more environmentally-friendly measures to manage their fleets, including reducing the sulphur content in fuels used in their vessels from Jan. 1 2020.In a notice issued to the shipping industry…
Wärtsilä, PSA Marine Collaborate on Clean Energy Shipping
Wärtsilä and Singapore-based PSA Marine have agreed to collaborate in the co-creation of smart technologies for the marine sector. The focus will be on solutions that are human-centric and deployable. The Letter of Intent was signed on November 14 as part of the events celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the Wärtsilä Acceleration Center in Singapore.Specific collaboration areas envisioned include the use of electric or hybrid technologies that further the use of low-emissions energy and propulsion systems…
Wärtsilä Opens Support Center in Singapore
Wärtsilä said it has established its latest Expertise Center (EC) in Singapore to provide support functions, including operational support and dynamic maintenance planning, for marine and energy customers.Together with nine other Wärtsilä EC units around the world, the new center supports Lifecycle Solution agreement customers with advice and recommendations based on the analysis of data from monitoring the condition and performance of the specified machinery.Based within the company’s Acceleration Center facilities…
IMO2020: Market Uncertainty Brings More Fuel Oil Price Volatility
The oil market has recently been shaken up by geopolitical events, but volatility in the price difference between low and high sulphur fuel cannot be explained by that alone – the uncertainty is the chaos factor.The uncertainty of the upcoming IMO 2020 Sulphur cap regulation (IMO2020) is having a big impact on the bunker market. Whereas, the price for Marine Gas Oil Low Sulphur (MGO LS) has largely remained stable, the price for High Sulphur Fuel oil (HSFO) has been become increasingly more volatile in recent months.
Clean Marine, FMSI to Merge
Scrubber manufacturers and suppliers Clean Marine and FMSI have unveiled their intention to merge in order to create a bigger market share in the exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) segment.The combined entity, which will operate under the name Clean Marine, will provide a fully integrated offering, including Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) expertise, significant capacity, fast production times, project management and global after-sales services.Further announcements will…
Floating Storage for IMO 2020 Fuel builds in Asia
Stockpiles of low-sulphur marine fuels held in floating storage around the Singapore trading and pricing hub are steadily growing ahead of a 2020 global deadline for rules that have shaken the global oil refining and shipping industries.A total of 32 ships, mostly supertankers capable of carrying 300,000 tonnes or more of oil, are currently anchored in Malaysian waters near Singapore accumulating stores of IMO-compliant fuels on board, according to data released by intelligence…
Two LNG Dual-Fuel DP Shuttle Tankers Unveiled
AET, a petroleum tanker owner and operator, has named its newest vessels, two of the world's first LNG Dual-Fuel Dynamic Positioning Shuttle Tankers (DPSTs). The vessels, the cleanest DPSTs ever built, will emit 40-48% less carbon than equivalent vessels built in 2008, meeting the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) target of reducing carbon (CO2) emissions by 40% against 2008 baselines by 2030, and halving CO2 emissions by 2050.These LNG Dual-Fuel DPSTs also emit 85% less SOx…
BIMCO Offers Bunker Fuel Price Monitoring
BIMCO has developed a monitoring service for bunker prices, with data provided by MABUX, which is now available to all BIMCO members. The new interactive graphs allow price fluctuations in the major bunkering hubs of Singapore and Rotterdam to be tracked. They will show the bunker prices for 380cST HSFO (high sulphur fuel oil) and MGO LS (marine gas oil low sulfur), both in USD per metric ton, as well as the spread between the two fuel types, with data available since June 2017.