BV: Shipowners Showing Growing Interest in LNG Bunkers

BV is modeling issues around LNG bunkering

With economic conditions remaining tough, shipowners are increasingly interested in adopting liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers and fuel efficiency measures, Bureau Veritas (BV) said in its 2012-2013 Marine & Offshore Business Review.

"2012 was a tough year for shipowners, a tough year for shipyards and a year of pushing technological frontiers for offshore energy of all types," BV wrote.

"And it was a year of paradox. There is less money around in shipping, yet an ever greater demand for very specialised expertise."

BV said it gave approval in principle to a number of LNG-powered ship designs, including 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containership, a 1,000 TEU feeder vessel, and a passenger ferry, as well as working on conversions of existing ships to LNG bunkers.

The firm said it is developing methods for addressing the potential risks of LNG fuel in different types of ships, including modeling fire, dispersion, and explosion events.

"Bureau Veritas' expertise in the use of riskbased analysis has helped to devise clear and safe standards for these vessels and protocols for the analysis and verification of new designs," it said.

Global FOBAS Manager Douglas Raitt recently identified technical challenges around safety as one obstacle to wide adoption of LNG bunkers.

BV also noted "real growing interest" in energy efficient designs and said it worked with shipyards to design vessels with both strong Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) ratings and good performance ability in various operating conditions.

The firm said ship prices are "very low" and "are deemed to have reached a bottom."

"The tide has turned and there are fewer ships coming out of the yards," it said.

"That promises a better balance of supply and demand for shipowners, but leaves yards with a problem."