Owners’ initiatives Blueprint for green charters
major step forward with the signing of a new charter with ConocoPhillips Scandinavia. The Norwegian offshore owner, a pioneer of green ship operation, has been offering its clients the opportunity of climate-neutral operation for some time, but the charterer is the first to sign such a charterparty. Tor Inge Dale, Environment Engineer at Solstad, is the architect of the company’s environmental initiative. He has overseen the implementation across the company’s fleet of so-called ‘green operations’ – single initiatives, which save at least one cubic metre of fuel – and a company-wide competition between vessels to see which crews can achieve the largest savings. For each green operation, suggested by shipboard personnel and approved at head office, Solstad undertakes to pay for the protection of one square kilometre of rain forest, through the Rainforest Foundation, for one year. Ships’ crews, therefore, see that their actions are contributing positively to the world’s environment, Dale explains. Typically, green operations could involve dropping anchors instead of operating in dynamic positioning mode; using two engines, rather than four, in standby mode; or cutting transit speeds, when possible, by a knot or two. However, like many owners who
S
olstad Offshore’s aim of achieving ‘climate neutral’ vessel operation took a
cost, simply by increasing awareness of fuel efficiency,’ Dale told Seatrade.
The precise terms of the charter of the 1985-built Normand Mjolne, an anchor handler working on the Ekofisk field in the North Sea, have not been revealed. But the deal, which runs to December 2012, sees the vessel operated on a climate-neutral basis where by the charterer foregoes some of the benefit of reduced fuel bills so that carbon credits can be
purchased equivalent to the vessel’s CO2 emissions.
Commenting on the deal, Solstad md Lars Peder Solstad
Tor Inge Dale
expressed delight at the ground-breaking contract. ‘It
charter out their vessels, Solstad itself does not benefit from the fuel savings because its charterers foot the bills for bunkers. Now though, this charter agreement could provide a blueprint for other ship operators who are in dialogue with charterers and lobbying for their support. ‘This agreement shows that climate neutrality can easily be obtained on today’s offshore vessels without extra
demonstrates that not only can we offer climate-neutral vessels on competitive terms, but that our environmental solution is not dependent on the age, design or specification of the vessel.’ He went on to say that the company is currently discussing similar arrangements with a number of other clients.
Solstad’s Norman Pacific took the lead over the second quarter when it recorded no less than 340 green operations in Solstad’s ISO 14001 system. A new record for green operations was set over the quarter, with a total of 3,158 fuel-reducing measures across the fleet. The fuel-saving programme has cut overall fuel consumption by nearly 20%.
Calculating carbon H
anjin Shipping of South Korea and Hong Kong’s Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) have developed highly advanced supply chain carbon calculators, allowing shippers to get a precise impression of their carbon footprint. OOCL’s slew of newbuilds ordered over the past three years incorporate some very high-tech green equipment including the world’s largest incinerators to burn waste sludge oil whilst homogenisers have been installed to improve combustion efficiency and reduce sludge. There is an air type stern tube seal with a bio-degradeable stern tube oil system. The main engine has an emission mode to control and reduce NOx emissions, as well as fuel injection and exhaust valve timing control to optimise energy efficiency whilst electricity is generated from the main shaft. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Evergreen has placed orders for a total of 30 environmentally friendly L-class ships at Samsung Heavy Industries and China Shipbuilding Corp. The ships are being built with eco-friendly materials to prevent pollution and meet requirements for Green Passports. AMP shore electric power will be included reducing air pollution caused by emissions from ships in harbour. The capacity of the marine gas oil tank has been increased to comply with the requirements of emission control areas.
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