Bureau Veritas: No Alternatives to LNG as Eco-Friendly Marine Fuel

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday October 6, 2014

Marine Commercial Director at classification body Bureau Veritas in St Petersburg, Peter Likhachev, has said he sees “no alternatives” to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as eco-friendly bunkers in the future, Portnews reports.

“There are no alternatives. The old systems [traditional bunkers] which cannot be ignored may be further used with the devices reducing hazardous emissions…but I see no crucial alternative to LNG fuel,” he said.

Likhachev said the regulatory framework for using LNG as marine fuel is already in place and the industry was expected to catch up, particularly with regard to bunker tankers for fuelling at sea.

“We expect…that bunkering vessels will appear soon and will fuel vessels directly in the sea,” he said, elaborating that as yet no bunkering tankers have been built.

Likhachev also revealed that Bureau Veritas is in the process of developing LNG-related classifications, in a similar move to DNV GL’s “LNG-ready” class.

But he conceded that traditional bunkers could not be ignored and said that Bureau Veritas had produced a brochure on requirements for fitting and using exhaust scrubbers.

When asked what the future challenges would be for the shipbuilding and shipping industries, Likhachev said “I would just repeat: environment protection and energy efficiency for both industries.”

Earlier this year Bureau Veritas released LNG bunkering guidelines.