TANKER SHIPPING 29
PLUG AND PLAY ELECTRIFICATION • THE SEARCH FOR EMISSION-FREE SHIPPING POINTS ALMOST INEVITABLY AT ELECTRIC POWER. STOLT TANKERS IS STARTING TO EXAMINE ITS VIABILITY ON CHEMICAL TANKERS
SEAGOING VESSELS SPEND a lot of time in port; for those on short-haul trades, port time can make up a substantial part of their life. And, while in port, they need to keep their auxiliary engines – usually powered by diesel – running, so that equipment can function, meals can be cooked and the lights kept on. For tanker vessels, in particular, there is also the need to be able to run the cargo pumps.
The focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping has for some years now encouraged operators to look at ways to reduce the consumption of fuel while in port; there have been a number of projects in recent years, in areas as disparate as Scandinavia, the US, Singapore and Japan, offering shore power connections. But where deepsea chemical tankers are concerned, there are issues to be dealt with, not least the safety of electric power when a vessel is loading or discharging a potentially flammable cargo. Stolt Tankers last month signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Rotterdam and Vopak; the three parties plan to conduct a six-month feasibility study on the use of shore power, involving a number of Stolt vessels calling at Vopak’s Botlek terminal. While in port, these ships will be able to switch off their diesel generators and connect to mains power, which ideally will come from renewable sources.
“The availability of shore-based power for our ships has the potential to greatly reduce the use of onboard diesel generators while ships are in port, resulting in a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” says Lucas Vos, president of Stolt Tankers. This will be another step in meeting Stolt’s ambitions to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030. SETTING STANDARDS As chemical tankers are required to comply with higher safety standards than many other types of vessels, the results of this study will be important for the whole chemical tanker industry. The project poses several significant technical hurdles, which make it unique. The aim of the feasibility study is to discover effective solutions to these challenges that can be used to form the basis of an agreed international standard. Stolt Tankers says the installation of shore power for chemical tankers will only be viable if industry can agree on a single standard. Shipowners will need confidence that their vessels will be able to safely and reliably connect to shore power at multiple points around the world before investing in the necessary onboard equipment. Actually running a ship’s main engines on electric power is something of a leap away, at least for oceangoing vessels, though the use of hydrogen fuel cells may offer a route into that area. On the other hand, as battery packs are becoming larger and more powerful, it is certainly a viable option for vessels engaged in regular, coastal operations, and something that ferries in Norway and a few inland vessels on the Rhine are already using. The first example of a fully-electric tanker went to work in Japan in April, when the new bunkering tanker Asahi provided fuel to MOL’s car carrier Victorious Ace in Yokohama. Asahi is fitted with large-capacity lithium ion batteries that power all aspects of its operations, including navigation within Tokyo Bay, cargo handling and berthing/unberthing. Not only does this result in a zero-emission vessel, it also reduces the workload onboard by reducing engine maintenance requirements. www.stolt-nielsen.com www.asahi-tanker.com
WWW.HCBLIVE.COM
