World News
LISW23: 'Shipping Isn't Going to Get to Choose What Our Future Fuel Is'
The shipping industry should not assume that its own preferred alternative fuel of choice will become the dominant future bunker fuel, according to global energy producer Shell.
Karrie Trauth, SVP for maritime and shipping at Shell, addressed the future of the shipping industry's energy requirements in a panel session at the London International Shipping Week headline conference on Wednesday.
"Any fuel choice we make for shipping is really going to come on the back of a low- or zero-carbon fuel for energy, the global energy system," she said.
"Shipping isn't going to get to choose, in many locations and in many ways, what our future fuel is; it's going to be driven by global energy trends."
Shell has previously expressed scepticism over the idea of ammonia becoming the dominant future marine fuel, citing reservations over how it can be safely handled at sea.
Trauth said for any alternative bunker fuel market, the key to its emergence would be having it available in significant quantities at locations where the demand would be.
"It comes to just seeing that demand, and having a line of sight to being able to produce and supply," she said.
"I'll take the example of LNG as a marine fuel.
"LNG as a marine fuel came about because we had LNG supply in multiple ports around the world; the fuel was already in the port, and we were able then to convert it to be a marine fuel.
"When you look at ammonia, when you look at methanol, when you look at any of the alternatives that are being considered right now, none of those are a meaningfully globally traded energy commodity whereby we can simply do that last quarter-mile of bunkering the vessel.
"Those require the development of the infrastructure in the port, the development of the fuel-production infrastructure.
"This is a huge chicken-and-egg question."
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 571.00 | 1.50 | 685.50 | 5.50 |
| Rotterdam | 516.50 | 1.50 | 677.50 | 3.50 |
| Houston | 556.00 | 6.00 | 679.00 | 1.00 |
| Fujairah | 565.00 | 4.50 | 755.00 | 1.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 589.00 | 3.00 | 764.50 | 3.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 552.00 | 3.00 | 699.00 | 2.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 635.50 | 1.00 | 811.50 | 11.00 |
Popular Now More
-
Nov 21CCO Christoffer Berg Lassen is stepping down from the company to be replaced by Anders Grønborg, while Peder Møller becomes its first chief operating officer. -
Nov 20The ISO 6853:2024 specifications, the first of their kind, cover the general requirements and properties for methanol specifically being used as marine fuel. -
Nov 21CTI-Maritec reports on undeclared quantities of cashew nut shell liquid found in VLSFO samples from Rotterdam and Singapore.