We have long argued the benefits of sea water scrubbing both from an environmental and commercial perspective. One of these benefits being the ability for operators to maintain a "uni-fuel" operation and avoid the cost and complexity of purchasing and switching between compliant and non-compliant fuels. It is now clear that vessels operating in and out of the European and US Emissions Control Areas (ECA) are in fact experiencing difficulties with switching fuels.
It was reported in the Motorship on the 3rd of October that the UK P&I Club has highlighted a number of incidents involving a sudden loss of power during or just after switchover to low sulphur fuels in ECA.
The article goes on to report that “In the bulletin, the Club highlights causes of sudden loss of power and proposes mitigating procedures that ships’ crew should adopt. Main engine failures or electrical blackouts now amount to 7% of its third party claims property damage in monetary terms. Ships effectively out of control as a result have caused extensive damage, and resulted in costly collision and grounding claims. The UK Club’s risk assessors have analysed more than 700 claims, which suggest a trend resulting from compliance with the low sulphur fuel regulations and changing from one grade of fuel to another may have exacerbated problems often encountered in confined waters or during entering or leaving port.”
The UK P&I Club has suggested that procedures can be implemented to mitigate the risks associated with fuel switching. The shipping industry has spent much of the last decade developing engines and ships to achieve uni-fuel operations with the objective of reducing both cost and technical risk. It seems an unintended consequence of emissions legislation that multi-fuel operations and their attendant cost and risk are being undertaken.
The installation of sea water scrubbing systems, in addition to the commercial and environmental benefits, negates the need to switch fuel all together and allows ships to continue to operate on a uni-fuel basis.
-
