IMO Carbon Intensity Rules Will Squeeze LNG Carrier Fleet: Lloyd's Register

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday January 28, 2022

New International Maritime Organization rules coming into force from 2025 could lead to a shortage of LNG carriers, according to classification society Lloyd's Register.

As many as 400 LNG carriers currently are unlikely to achieve the Carbon Intensity Indicator number required by the IMO by 2025, Panos Mitrou, global gas segment manager at Lloyd's Register, said in a post on the company's website this week.

These include about 250 steam turbine vessels with fuel efficiency of about 30%, and another 150 newer four-stroke, dual- or tri-fuel diesel-electric vessels running on conventional marine fuels or LNG.

These ships will require immediate carbon-efficiency improvements to be allowed to continue operating after 2025, and will probably need further work to meet the stricter requirements coming into force from 2027, Mitrou said.

"On one hand, there is limited scope to raise supply to meet the growing demand for seaborne LNG because shipbuilders have no extra capacity," he said.

"On the other, you have a majority of ships in the fleet which are unlikely to meet CII requirements from 2025 onwards, in what could resemble to a perfect storm."