As something of a stellar year for ship production, 2024 saw a 38% year-on-year increase in orders for alternative-fuelled newbuilds, totalling 515 ships, according to data released by DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform. The AFI data suggests that container ship orders led the charge, with 69% of these orders opting for alt-fuels, predominantly (67%) […]
A report jointly issued by tech firm CORE POWER, marine insurer NorthStandard and class society Lloyd’s Register (LR) paints an optimistic picture for the safe development and installation of small nuclear reactors aboard commercial ships and floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) in the UK – provided the government gets behind the effort. The paper, entitled […]
The UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is trialling the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as a fossil-free marine fuel for two of the country’s Royal Research Ships (RRS): the 89.2m James Cook and the 52m Discovery. The trial is being funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which owns both vessels, to […]
Is nuclear energy shedding its unfairly earned reputation as a dirty, dangerous alt-fuel? Perhaps the maritime industry, mainstream media and public are still not completely sold on the concept –but, compared to when we covered the topic two years ago (see Ship & Boat International January/February 2022, pages 28-30), attitudes appear to be softening. The […]
Methanol has several known benefits as a marine fuel, including the significant reduction in NOx, SOx and particulate matter emissions when burned, compared to traditional HFO/MGO. Producers can also create ‘green’ methanol through renewable sources and ‘blue’ methanol through carbon capture and storage. However, methanol has a lower energy density relative to conventional marine fuel […]
You know you’ve hit on an innovative vessel design when you’re not quite sure how to categorise it. For example, the Most Valuable Yacht (MVY) concept devised by UK start-up DRIFT Energy could be categorised as a hydrogen production and bunkering vessel or, alternatively, as a “green, self-filling tanker” or a “fishing boat for energy”, […]