would take almost 1.4 million years to raise the natural sulphur level by a single percentage point. Those facts may not help deflect criticism by environmentalists over the discharge of wash water direct into the oceans but Kawashima is not alone in raising the issue and asking for some slack to be given by regulators. In early March, Patrick Verhoeven,
secretary general
of the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) opened the Clean Shipping Conference during Baltic Transport Week in Gdansk, Poland. In his opening address, Mr Verhoeven covered the issues facing shipowners and highlighted the fact that installing a scrubber involved a large financial commitment and, in these uncertain times, commercial financing cannot be easily obtained in present market conditions. He added that at least 15 studies have been produced on the economic implications of which a substantial majority predict significant negative consequences for shipowners, ports and regional industries. Mr Verhoeven said the business case for certain shipping routes in the European SECA area is already marginal and the slightest cost increase could mean the end of profitability. Many shipping companies will therefore not be able to absorb these extra costs and will have to charge them to the user, the shipper. He questioned whether shippers will
Mr Verhoeven listed three priority elements to settle: financial support options, legal certainty and a fair level playing field.
He stressed the need to obtain concrete support for retrofit projects and newbuilds. While national funding is
in theory possible under the EU environmental state aid guidelines, the experience from Finland – the only country in the EU that has applied the guidelines so far in the SECA context – shows that there is a time constraint involved, which will make it difficult for other member states to follow suit at this late stage. Finally,
with the implementation
Patrick Verhoeven (ECSA): will shippers pay for green shipping? (credit: ECSA)
be prepared to pay the extra costs or shift to other, cheaper, transport alternatives. “There is a lot of talk about shippers demanding ‘green’ transport, but are they also willing to pay for it?” he asked. He went on to say that continued monitoring of economic impact and modal backshift is important and even a legal obligation under the EU Sulphur Directive and revealed that at the European Sustainable Shipping Forum in late February it was agreed to establish a European monitoring tool, which could become operational this summer. As well as monitoring,
Repeat orders roll in for scrubbers
So far, the scrubber market has been dominated by European manufacturers with Alfa Laval and Wärtsilä leading the charge backed up by smaller newcomers such as Clean Marine and Green Tech Marine from Norway and Saacke and Couple Systems in Germany. The volume of orders is nowhere near enough to demonstrate that the concept has been accepted by more than a few pioneering owners, but the level of repeat orders does suggest that the technology is living up to expectations.
Sigurd Jenssen, director of exhaust gas cleaning, environmental solutions, at Wärtsilä Ship Power told Marine Propulsion that, while the company would not provide a detailed breakdown of the orders received, they include virtually every ship type: cruise, container, ferries, roro, tankers and trawlers. Mr Jenssen agreed that the
level of
repeat custom is significant. Recently, Italian operator Messina Line ordered four more shipsets at STX following its initial order for
four vessels Solvang has ordered three more
at DSME and Norway’s shipsets
(both newbuilds and retrofit), after having taken delivery of two shipsets at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. Another
www.mpropulsion.com The bulk carrier Balder was the first into the US ECA using a scrubber (credit: Clean Marine)
recent repeat order saw Wilhelmsen ordering more
ships sets following the retrofit of
Tarago April last year. Alfa Laval has notched up repeat orders for
its PureSox system from Danish ferry operator DFDS and from Dutch operator Spliethoff. The November 2013 order from Spliethoff comprises systems for five con-ro vessels to be retrofitted between June and December this year. The order is significant because it follows practical experience gained over more than 6,000 hours using a PureSox system on its con-ro Plyca. Alfa Laval delivered the system in 2012 and it has been in continuous use
aboard the vessel ever since within the North European ECA.
Not to be outdone by their peers, Norway’s two system makers
in February that its have also notched
up significant orders. Green Tech Marine announced
biggest
customer, Norwegian Cruise Line, is installing 28 scrubbers on six ships in the line’s fleet. The contract covers Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Sun and will be completed over a two-year period. Green Tech Marine also supplied the scrubbers on NCL’s Pride of America last year and will deliver 10 scrubbers
Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 81
approaching fast, he made a plea for a fair and level playing field asking that the early adopters, those operators that completed all the investments and are ready to meet the sulphur norms on 1 January 2015, are not penalised against those that think it is cheaper to do nothing.
And he believes that some leniency should be shown to those that can demonstrate that they have made the necessary commitments to meet the standards, but may not be entirely ready by the time the deadline arrives, for technical or other good reasons. For example, a compliance path with a limited and conditional timeframe might be offered, he suggested. There is a precedent, Mr Verhoeven said. “The USA seems to allow this flexibility within the North American ECA, and we should have the same flexibility in Europe.”
date
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108