22 Mar LNG THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE OPTION FOR NEWBUILD TANKERS
A joint industry project (JIP) has quantified the financial and environmental performance of certain fuel alternatives and technologies in order to define ‘realistic carbon-robust pathways’ for MR and LR2 tankers.
The project involved participation from DNV, ship designer Deltamarin, Minerva Marine as a vessel manager, and Total as a charterer.
The JIP focus on two vessel types: a 39,000 DWT MR, trading short voyages mainly in Europe, and an LR2, trading globally.
The case ship concepts were defined primarily to focus on quantifying fuel consumption and fuel tank requirements. The project’s report discusses other practical consideration, such as class and regulatory requirements, but only qualitative perspective.
The fuel consumption for the MR and the LR2 is based on simulating the case ships’ operating profiles as if they were in Minerva Marine’s fleet and built to Deltamarin’s designs. The study takes account of speed distribution, propulsion requirements, main-engine fuel consumption/specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC), energy losses, engine maker’s tolerance and other fuel characteristics.
The project used the concept of total cost of ownership for all assessed fuel and technology options with defined fuel price paths. This cost, evaluated over the 20-year lifetime assigned to each case ship, is made up of capital and operational expenditure and fuel expenditure.
The study’s detailed findings are confidential but, says DNV, ‘the key message for today’s newbuilds is that LNG is currently the most cost-attractive fuel and fuel technology option available for GHG emissions abatement’.
This conclusion aligns with findings from similar modelling for a Panamax tanker case ship in DNV’s latest Maritime Forecast to 2050.
The study does highlight that ‘only low-carbon fuels have the potential to reduce emissions by close to 100%’.
JIP’s key findings:
– For fuels widely available today, LNG has the lowest well-to-wake CO2-eq. emissions.
– LNG and energy efficiency technologies such as rotor sails reduce GHG emissions significantly – up to 20% for LNG – while at the same time being commercially attractive.
Source: DNV