LNG's Rise to be Dominant Bunker Fuel is Inevitable: GasLog

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday June 7, 2018

On a bullish day for LNG bunkers at Posidonia 2018, delegates heard that the rise of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the industry's preferred marine fuel is inevitable, at least according to Peter Livanos, chairman of GasLog.

"It's inevitable that LNG becomes the primary source of fuel for marine transportation," he said today during an ABS event on the future of LNG shipping.

"The train has left the station, and it will dominate marine fuels."

But it won't be all smooth sailing just yet, with Livanos along with fellow panel members John Angelicoussis, chairman Angelicoussis Shipping Group, and Christopher Wiernicki, chairman, president and CEO at ABS, all agreeing a lack of infrastructure was acting as a brake against early adoption of LNG as marine fuel.

"But that should accelerate," said Livanos.

"And then there is the lifecycle of the existing assets and to what extent you replace existing assets with LNG ready or LNG capable, and its coming," he added.

Angelicoussis said the current lack of LNG bunkering infrastructure meant those looking to adopt LNG would have to go dual fuel, and right now that was "prohibitively expensive."

Wiernicki, meanwhile, said LNG bunkers "will probably be the most sustainable option going forward."