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Issue 4 2014 - Freight Business Journal


///NEWS


Containerships to order dual fuel vessels


Intra-European and Baltic short- sea line Containerships has ordered two dual-fuel engined ships, capable of using either liquefied natural gas (LNG) or conventional marine diesel oil or heavy fuel. They will be delivered during


2016, with Containerships chartering the ships from owner and technical


manager GNS


Shipping/Nordic Hamburg, with Arkon acting as commercial manager and charter broker. The vessels are being built by the Chinese GNS yard. The ships will help the operator


meet new sulphur emission limits in the Channel and North Sea, without the higher cost of gas oil and will also reduce CO2 emissions by a quarter. Each ship will have a capacity


of up to 639 45-foot containers and a total capacity of 1,400teu, including up to 300 refrigerated containers. The generators and refrigeration system will also be dual-fuel. Containerships CEO, Kari-


Pekka Laaksonen, said: “We are a short-sea operator that is in it for the long haul - and these state-of- the art ships are just one part of


our long-term strategy. In addition to offering the most ecologically sustainable solution, the intake capacity of these ships will allow us to keep meeting growing customer demand.” The new ships will be used on all


Containerships’ Baltic sea routes. There may be some constraints on the ports they can call at, not because of the nature of their fuel but because they are significantly larger than most of the existing vessels in the Containerships fleet, said operations and administration manager of the west region, Robert Venema. However, it is expected that they will be able to call in Teesport, Containerships’ main UK base, as well as most major European ports. If necessary, the ships could call at Ust Luga in preference to St Petersburg. Venema added that fuelling


could take place in Russia, Rotterdam and Helsinki, most likely using barges rather than fixed fuelling facilities. The ships would be capable of a complete round trip voyage before having to refuel, although gas oil would always be available as a back-up. Over the next few years,


Methanol could be fuel of the future, says Stena


Stena Line is to test a


Containerships expects to switch to LNG for all its North Sea and Baltic fleet, currently nine vessels, although scrubbers will be fitted to existing ships as an interim measure. The operator also plans to


switch to LNG for its road truck fleet; one such truck is already in service in Helsinki and there are two dual fuel examples in the UK. Containerships’ move follows


ro ro operator Brittany Ferries announcement earlier this year that it will introduce a dual fuel vessel on its UK/Northern Spain route in late Spring 2017 (FBJ 1 2014, p1). These moves have been promoted by the new sulphur emission limits that will go into operation from 1 January 2015, forcing operators to either buy


new vessels or convert existing ones with ‘scrubber’ technology. The new limits were also cited


by DFDS in its recent decision to DFDS is to close its ro ro route between Harwich and Esbjerg on 29 September. lThe ports of Antwerp, Mannheim, Rotterdam, Strasbourg and Zwitserland have signed a cooperation agreement to boost LNG uptake in Europe. The cooperation includes studies, promotion, knowledge transfer, regulations and bunker infrastructure and is part of the LNG Masterplan for Rhine-Main- Danube corridor to introduce LNG as a fuel for inland shipping. The European Union is providing € 40 million in subsidies for the project.


methanol-powered ship as an alternative clean fuel, head of shipping logistics Peter Kleberg told FBJ in an interview at the Multimodal show on Tuesday 29 April. The test-bed would be the ro- pax vessel Stena Germanica on the Gothenburg-Kiel route, he explained, pointing out that methanol could be an alternative ‘clean’ fuel to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Shipping lines in northern


Europe are currently grappling with the problem of how to eliminate high sulphur marine diesel oil. Methanol offers the


advantage of quick conversions of existing diesel engines and, unlike LPG, it does not require a new design of fuel tank – methanol can use tanks with squared-off corners whereas LPG – a pressurised gas – can only be stored in tanks with rounded corners. It also has the attraction that it will eliminate nitrous


Oxide (Nox) as well as Sulphur Dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, Stena Line


is continuing to develop its network of logistics services, offering shippers of freight ranging from cars to forestry, steel or retail overland as well as short-sea services. For example, it is offering a combined rail-sea- rail service from western Sweden via Nynashamn and Ventspils deep into Russia, in partnership with Russian operator Transcontainer. There is also a rail-sea-road service from Poland to the UK via Warsaw, Poznan, Rotterdam and Harwich which can handle containers and trailers on flatcars. Services operate in


conjunction with rail operators GreenCargo, Combiverkehr, Trancontainer and ERS. Mr Kleberg explained:


“It’s a good way of filling ships, especially on off-peak sailings.”


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