Propulsion & Emissions Conference to Explore Implications of ECAs and Global Sulfur Cap

The Motorship says that the Propulsion & Emissions Conference, set to take place of May 11 to 12, will explore the impacts and implications of ECA implementation and a global sulfur emissions cap for shipping.

The Motorship Tuesday announced that the 38th Propulsion & Emissions Conference, which is set to take place at the Grand Elysee Hotel in Hamburg on May 11 to 12, will explore the impacts and implications of Emissions Control Area (ECA) implementation and a global sulfur emissions cap for shipping, set for 2020 or 2025.

Currently, 18 months after the implementation of sulfur ECAs, the Motorship says that ship owners have responded "pragmatically and with minimal incident" to the regional regulations, but notes that "consistent and meaningful" enforcement still has not been attained - a goal that it says is "essential" to ensuring the fair application of the regulations.

"The current low fuel prices mean reduced costs for vessels, but also a reduced incentive to invest in the alternative fuels where our future may lie. And the value of big data in optimising our vessels, fleets and businesses is becoming rapidly clearer," said the Motorship.

Keynote speaker, David St Armand of Navigistics Consulting, is expected to highlight the lack of firm implementation date for the global 0.50 percent fuel sulfur cap (whether it will be 2020 or 2025), among a number of other unresolved issues, including emission control enforcement at sea, and the preparedness of oil refineries to produce the required amount of compliant fuels.

"The 38th Propulsion & Emissions Conference will offer delegates first-hand insights into how these and other crucial issues are affecting the business and equipment choices of ship operators, the research and development of equipment suppliers and – crucially – the decisions of regulators," explained the Motorship.

The event will also feature a number of other industry experts, discussing a variety of industry issues, with Niels Bjørn Mortensen, director of regulatory affairs at Maersk Maritime Technology, set to explore the link between the European Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulations and sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions, and Hapag Lloyd's director environmental fleet management, Captain Wolfram Guntermann, slated to discuss the current and future and enforcement of environmental regulatory frameworks.

"This year's conference also boasts a strong fuel focus, spread over two sessions and reflecting the emergence of new low sulfur fuels and alternative fuels," said the Motorship, noting that, among other presentations, Jerry Ng, founder and CEO of Blue Ocean Solutions, and Luigi Brambilla, chief technical officer at SulNOx Fuel Fusions, will examine the increasing adoption of technology in support of low sulfur and alternative fuels, as well as ways that suppliers are working to overcome technical challenges.

Last year, major shipping industry players at the 37th The Motorship Propulsion & Emissions Conference in Hamburg agreed that fuel switchovers necessary to meet new ECA rules had caused no problems.