New Delhi, June 08, 2021: Newport Shipping, the UK-based shipyard company, specializing in retrofits and LNG solutions has obtained a preliminary class clearance for its LNG retrofit service. This service is aimed at the conversion of VLCC’s (Very Large Crude Carriers) and bulkers. The company’s concept is that of a deck-based LNG tank, which makes retrofitting possible without major modifications to the hull of the ship. The company is also providing the opportunity to pay 60% fees for the retrofitting in installments over 5 to 7 years.
The classification society DNV has green-lighted the operation, confirming the operation to be technically feasible. This event marks a major milestone and poises Newport Shipping to have a leading edge in the retrofitting market for the shipping industry.
Conversion of the existing fleet of around 100,000 ships has become undeniable for ship operators as LNG has been proven as a great transition fuel. Liangui Xia, Newport shipping’s managing director, stated that CO2 emissions can be reduced by 20% to 30% by simply switching over to LNG without any other modifications. LNG also has a global bunkering system already in place, thus making it ideal for a transition.
The Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) will mandate stricter class limits on emissions of existing ships, the surveys for which will begin from Jan 1st, 2023. The IMO has set goals to halve greenhouse gas emissions of international shipping and reduce the carbon intensity generated by shipping to 70% of 2008 levels by the year 2050. The market is also adding pressure, with banks and charterers introducing the caveat of low carbon emission on financing and contracts according to the reports published in fleetmon.com.
With the IMO cracking down on ship operators, imposing strict emission regulations, and ambitious emission goals, the shipping industry has been hard-pressed to find alternative fuels. While hydrogen, ammonia, and electric batteries are the cleaner alternatives compared to LNG, they are not economically feasible at present and large-scale commercialization of them has not been proved yet.
