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GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG
Japanese push to establish bunkering hub underway
Japan is making strides in its efforts to position itself as an LNG bunkering hub as the shipping industry prepares for new fuel regulations, writes Anna Kachkova
PERFORMANCE
WHAT:
Japan is stepping up efforts to set up LNG bunkering infrastructure.
WHY:
A growing number of ships are using LNG in a bid to move to lower- sulphur fuels.
WHAT NEXT:
Using LNG as fuel will not be enough to meet global GHG emission reduction targets of 50% by 2050.
JAPAN is stepping up e orts to establish itself as an LNG bunkering hub. e push comes as the global shipping industry prepares for Inter- national Maritime Organisation (IMO) regula- tions capping the sulphur content of marine fuels at 0.5% – down from the current 3.5% – to come into force on January 1, 2020.
e new regulations are already proving to be a boon to LNG producers, with the fuel seen as one of the cleanest solutions as shippers scram- ble to comply with the rules. (See: Total launches rst LNG bunkering vessel, page 9) Many ves- sels are expected to shi to low-sulphur fuel oil instead, but a growing number are looking to LNG, which is sulphur-free.
According to the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel, there are 170 LNG-fuelled vessels in oper- ation globally, mainly in Europe, with a further 184 ships on order. ere are also 10 vessels sup- plying LNG as a fuel, with 19 more on order.
LNG expertise
Japan is currently the world’s largest importer of LNG – though it is set to be overtaken by China
in the coming years – and has extensive LNG infrastructure on its coasts. Now it is seeking to promote its LNG-handling expertise as it moves more into bunkering.
Shippers NYK Line and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) have already introduced Japan’s first LNG-powered tugboats, which are refuelled via truck. e two companies have been making steady inroads into LNG bunkering.
NYK said in May that it had successfully con- ducted the rst LNG bunkering operation – a truck-to-ship demonstration – in Western Japan in partnership with Kyushu Electric Power, Saibu Gas and Chugoku Electric Power. NYK said the operation, at the Port of Kitakyushu, advanced the four companies’ discussions on the commer- cialisation of LNG bunkering, which had been underway since 2018.
MOL then said in September that the rst truck-to-ship bunkering operation had success- fully been carried out at the Port of Kobe, with the fuel being supplied to its Ishin tugboat.
The Japan Times reported this week that two consortia of private Japanese firms were
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 42 24•October•2019