American Bureau of Shipping, A.P. Moller – Maersk, MAN Energy Solutions, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NYK Line, Seaspan Corporation, Total and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping will embark on a project to assess the options for retrofitting existing vessels to operate on zero carbon fuels and technologies.
Announcing the initiative, the partners highlighted that its key focus is ‘to assess conversion options and de-risk asset investments by analysing the emission reduction potential as well as techno-economic opportunity of converting vessels currently fuelled by fossil-based fuels to zero or neutral carbon fuel solutions.’
The project will also seek to identify technical modifications which could have relevance for today’s newbuildings in order to cut the cost of potential future conversions.
The scope of the project will cover a range of vessel types, including containerships, tankers and bulk carriers, and will consider their potential for conversion from running on fuel oil, or integration with fuels such as LNG and LPG, to eventually using new fuels such as ammonia and methanol. The application of onboard carbon capture and storage will also be examined.
‘In order to accelerate the investments in a zero carbon maritime value chain, we have to reduce the risk of stranded assets. With this project, we address that challenge by providing clarity and overview of the operational fuel- and technology options, their associated environmental and financial impact as well as their transition pathways,’ said Claus Winter Graugaard, Head of Onboard Vessel Solutions, the Mærsk McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
Georgios Plevrakis, ABS Director, Global Sustainability, also commented: ‘This is a vitally important piece of work for the industry. We are assessing the opportunities and consequences of converting ships from fossil-based fuels to zero or neutral carbon fuel solution, which is something every ship owner and operator urgently needs actionable insight into.
‘This project will turn the industry’s decarbonization ambitions into a series of actionable steps, a pathway for each vessel type to carbon free operations.’
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