EDITORIAL COMMENT


When the singing stops


Deliverance: could the technology used aboard this vessel be an answer to the green shipping conundrum?


A


song and dance isn’t normally associated with the hardcore maritime industry these days,


discounting old style sea shanties and the jigs and reels of yester-year. Having said that the noises being


made by some in the maritime industry about the value of LNG as a fuel have been prolonged and the chorus is now reaching something of a crescendo. It is with this in mind that Te Naval Architect decided to ask industry experts to offer their points of view. First up is Tor Svensen, president


of Norwegian class society DNV, who makes the case for LNG very well. Svensen considers the viable alternatives and dismisses them one by one as either not able to achieve the greenhouse gas (GHG) savings of LNG, not being as safe or a higher cost compared to LNG. DNV does acknowledge that there are


still obstacles to be overcome before LNG becomes established as an alternative fuel to heavy fuel oil (HFO) or marine diesel oil (MDO) but the class society is convinced that LNG is the fuel of the immediate future. In some quarters the feeling that DNV


is promoting LNG because Norway is awash with the gas has been mooted. What we have not seen from these detractors is the data to back their claim that LNG is not all that it’s cracked up to be; in fact it is rare that any real data is made available by those singing from the pro-LNG hymn sheet either.


The Naval Architect January 2012


As a result we have asked a number


of interested parties to share their views and to hopefully provide us with some hard data and statistics regarding LNG as a bunker fuel and these stories will be published in the coming months. Starting the year by discussing the


merits of LNG as a cleaner alternative to HFO and MDO is literally right on the money. Koji Sekimizu’s election and formal appointment to the position of secretary general of the IMO will see the regulatory body push hard for agreement on new market-based measures that will include a fund that will help developing countries to operate cleaner ships. Sekimizu intends to report what form


the measures will take to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by 2015 and to implement the new measure by 2020.Tis is probably the single most important job that the new secretary general will undertake, along with solving the issues that cause piracy. However, Sekimizu is right to point to


the funding difficulties currently being experienced by the IMO-backed World Maritime University (WMU). Such institutions must be integral to the future of the industry. Perhaps as part of the agreement on


market-based measures, and the creation of a fund to help developing countries convert to cleaner technology, some small element of these funds can be diverted to the WMU for research projects that will aid the industry to improve its environ- mental record.


Te challenge for the industry is not


just the technology, however, in fact this may be the easier of the challenges confronting the industry, but rather the real challenge will be to bring all the diverse views together so that there is a harmonious resonance from all sides of the globe. Beginning a new year with a resolu-


tion to improve is common, but for the shipping industry one senses that this year will be key in a number of ways. The fact that there is a new secretary general at the IMO will give new impetus for change. Many regula- tors outside of the IMO are apparently losing patience with the industry and this could spark intensified calls for unilateral action to reduce emissions from ships. Te industry itself has shiſted critically


and where there once was stubborn resistance to change there is seemingly a new, more synchronous, tune being sung by industry seniors. It is then, with some optimism that the industry begins the New Year and with the sounds of the Western world’s celebrations only now dying the Chinese celebrations will be there at the end of the month to give us a liſt. Failing that we can all take heart from


the Robbie Burns classic and in glorious harmony ring out the old and sing in the new: “We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine; But seas between us broad have roared since auld lang syne”. NA


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