As the maritime industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint, fuel quality has emerged as a critical factor in achieving both operational efficiency and sustainability goals. High-quality fuels not only optimize engine performance but also reduce harmful emissions, encouraging shipping companies to meet stricter regulatory standards and embrace greener practices.
By investing in improved fuel quality and adhering to advanced fuel management practices, the industry can move toward a future where efficiency and environmental responsibility go hand in hand. In this issue, Robban Assafina discusses with maritime experts how fuel quality serves as a pivotal element in modern shipping, highlighting the latest blending techniques and their environmental footprint.
Fuel Quality’s Impact on Efficiency
Fuel quality impacts the performance and efficiency of ships in several key ways. High quality, stable and compliant fuel is essential for the safe and efficient operation of a ship’s engines, reliability and longevity of its critical machinery, according to Jamil Al Ali, Middle East Regional Commercial & Business Development Director at Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore. Al Ali emphasizes that “poor quality fuel can lead to a range of issues including costly operational disruptions in the most severe cases and adversely impact the overall safety of the vessel. Proactive ship owners and operators mitigate such risks by contracting the services of specialized companies that provide bunker sample testing and advisory services such as BV VeriFuel.”
From Usman Muhammad, Product Manager for Lloyd’s Register’s Fuel Oil Bunker Analysis and Advisory Service (FOBAS) perspective, fuel quality plays a critical role in a ship's engine performance, fuel efficiency, emissions, operational costs, and regulatory compliance. Muhammad states, “high-quality fuels burn more efficiently, resulting in better energy conversion and more power output for the engine. While using poor-quality fuel increases the frequency of maintenance activities such as cleaning fuel tanks, replacing filters, and overhauling engines. It may also lead to higher emissions of particulate matter and carbon monoxide. Using high-quality cleaner fuels results in better combustion and lower emissions, reducing the ship's environmental footprint.”
Fuel Quality Challenges
As the maritime industry faces growing environmental pressures, fuel quality has emerged as a key factor in maintaining operational efficiency and compliance. Al Ali observes that bunker fuel quality has become increasingly significant, especially since the IMO’s implementation of stricter Sulphur regulations in 2020, when the global permissible Sulphur content was reduced from 3.5% to 0.5%. Jamil Al Ali adds, “in Emission Control Areas (ECA’s) the fuel is required to be below 0.1% Sulphur and while in EU ports the requirement is below 0.1%. These factors have prompted many suppliers to blend different stocks to meet the new standards, which have resulted in an upward trend in inconsistencies in fuel quality and the introduction of potentially harmful substances.”
Muhammad believes that the general picture of fuel quality in 2024 is one similar to the past few years, at least since the shift to predominantly Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) in 2020. “Fuel as always is a vital consideration and expense for any ship operator, and with fast changing regulations and fuel formulations there is more attention than ever needed to understand the quality and availability of marine fuels around the world and what to look out for. With the new ISO8217 standard, which includes all current fuel types, recently released in June, and the increasing use of bio-fuel blends along with EU and IMO regulations to consider, the year ahead will likely continue to provide challenges for the marine fuel industry.”
Muhammad explains, “we can also expect an increase in the demand and use of different biofuel and RFNBO (Renewable Fuel from Non-Biological Origin) types, not just of FAME. This adds significant challenges to the maritime industry to maintain the control of the quality and composition transparency of the fuel supplied.”
Biofuel Compliance
As the push for decarbonization intensifies, regulatory frameworks are evolving to encourage the adoption of more sustainable fuels in the maritime industry. From Fuels Advisor at Glander International Bunkering, Mustafa El Zein’s viewpoint, the European regulations, EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime, as well as upcoming IMO regulations are meant to incentivize ships to reduce their emissions by using certified sustainable and low carbon fuels such as FAME and HVO, which are produced from non-fossil materials like used cooking oil and waste.
“These fuels have much lower emissions compared to conventional marine fuels, but one of the main challenges is that they are in high demand by three mega sectors, Maritime, Aviation, and Road Transportation. There are efforts to expand on the types of sustainable feedstocks that can be used to produce biofuels, as well as the growing interest and demand in alternative fuel engines in shipping such as LNG, Methanol, and Ammonia.”
Fuel Quality Standards
As blending techniques in ship fuel quality play a crucial role in engine performance and vessel longevity, there are key characteristics and standards used to determine the quality of ship fuel. Al Ali believes that apart from the basic information provided on the bunker delivery note (BDN), industry’s best practice is to order marine fuels in accordance with the ISO 8217 fuel standard, and then for a representative sample to be taken by the continuous drip method throughout the duration of the bunkering operation to ensure that a true representative sample has been taken.
“To ensure that the samples are homogeneous, the ‘cubitaine’ needs to be well shaken, before pouring to the four required sample bottles, one of which is sent to the laboratory for testing and analysis. The test results are compared for those parameters with set limits as stipulated in the ISO 8217 fuel standard to ensure that the fuel is according to specifications and fit for purpose. This process should ideally be completed, and results shared with the vessels Chief Engineer and Superintendent, prior to the vessel starting to consume the fuel to avoid potential harmful effects in case the fuel is not suitable for use.”
Following this regard, Muhammad states that there is an international standard ISO 8217 which is generally used to buy and sell the marine drop-in fuels across the world. Hence the final blend at the point of custody transfer must comply with the requirements set out in the contract between the fuel buyer and the seller.
Usman Muhammad explains that the quality of the marine fuel is assessed by testing a sample for parameters outlined in one of the Tables of ISO 8217:2024. “There are four Tables in the standard for each fuel type, whether the fuel is a distillate, low-sulphur residual fuel, high-sulphur residual fuel, or a biofuel. One of the most important clauses is the workmanship clause 5.2, which states: 'The fuel shall be free from any materials, including added substances and chemical species, at a concentration that causes the fuel to be unacceptable for use by way of: a) jeopardizing the safety of the ship; or b) adversely affecting the performance of the machinery; or c) being harmful to personnel’.”
Muhammad continues, “to assess whether the fuel is ‘fit for purpose’ is most challenging aspect of marine fuel quality assessment. Fuel testing agencies use various tools at their disposal such as FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) and GCMS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) to try to investigate the cases where a fuel might by within limits of the relevant ISO 8217 table parameters, but ship still faces operational problems with the onboard handling and use of the fuel. FTIR/GCMS helps to investigate if the fuel contains any anomalous components at a level which may have caused the disruption to the engine operations. However, with residual fuels there are hundreds of thousands of different species in the fuel which makes it challenging.”
Blending Technologies
Al Ali discusses how optimizing the blending process to its highest extent requires continuous updates to the simulation model, adapting to real-time analytical data. “Online analyzers provide a broad range of different real-time analytical data of feedstock and final blends in continuous mode.”
As for the latest blending technologies that are employed to enhance ship fuel quality, Jamil Al Ali believes that blending biofuels with conventional marine fuel can improve CII ratings. “With reporting of data in compliance with the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regulations underway, ship owners and operators are focused on how to optimize their operations and gain improvement in CII ratings.”
FuelEU Effects
With FuelEU Maritime now in force, it is expected that the regulation will impact the quality standards for ship fuel, and measures are being taken to ensure compliance while maintaining operational efficiency. According to El Zein, FuelEU Maritime requires ships to reduce their emissions by using renewable fuels. It takes effect on January 2025 with a reduction of 2% of emissions and the percentage increases every few years until it finally reaches 80% reduction in 2050.
“Biofuels like FAME and HVO, the two main contenders of renewable fuels, are not as standardized as conventional fuels like Marine Gas Oil or Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil, but they do have some standards, the most recent are the ISO 8217:2024 which include standards for hydrocarbons from renewable sources and FAME. There are also EU standards such as EN 14214, and the IMO’s MARPOL also has some standards for these renewable fuels. In terms of quality standards, while still at a young age, Biofuels and their specifications are surely becoming more standardized as we progress through the transition.”
From Jamil Al Ali’s point of view, “FuelEU Maritime default emission factors will address fossil fuels, but bio fuels and biogas ‘Well to Tank’ (WtT) emissions intensity will be determined by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and shipping companies will need to calculate GHG emissions per unit of energy used onboard, based on their reported fuel consumption and emission factors of their respective fuels.”
Usman Muhammad further explains that the main objective of the FuelEU maritime initiative, as a key part of the EU’s Fit for 55 packages, is to increase the demand for and consistent use of renewable and low-carbon fuels and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector, while ensuring the smooth operation of maritime traffic and avoiding distortions in the internal market.
Muhammad continues, “FuelEU Maritime and similar mid- to long-term GHG reduction measures will impact fuel standardization, as these will drive the marine industry to create new or update existing fuel standards in order to incorporate fuels from sustainable feedstocks for maritime consumption with low carbon intensity on life cycle basis. One of the main barriers towards standardization is the lack of data and field experiences, which is critical to update or develop new standards. All stakeholders need to come together and share information on quality and the impact on the onboard fuel system performance and operational efficiency, to ensure timely developments and help de-fossilize the maritime industry.”
IMO Regulations Impact
As the maritime industry faces increasing regulatory pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, industry leaders are keenly aware of the financial implications and the evolving landscape of fuel choices. Jamil Al Ali says, “as the IMO regulations become increasingly stringent in line with the IMO’s revised strategy for the reduction of GHG emissions from ships, regardless of which alternative fuel or technology operators choose to decarbonize their operations, it is anticipated that this will have a substantial effect on their overall expenses, effecting both CAPEX and OPEX, therefore, for smaller operators it’s expected to be even more challenging to sustain the profitability of their businesses.”
On the same level, Muhammad states, “current and future GHG reduction measures from IMO will have major impact on fuel choices. Subsequently, pressure will grow on the supply side impacting the cost of low-carbon intensity fuels. Some of this has already been observed with the standardized drop-in biofuels, which are high in demand, combined with limited availability is driving up the cost. It has also been observed in many instances that ship operators are influenced by the charterers or cargo owners to switch to renewable fuels so they can demonstrate their green credentials to their customers or stakeholders.”
Muhammad concludes, “this can also lead the investment in retrofits or new build vessels, which can burn non-conventional low flashpoint fuels such as methanol. This scenario has the potential to create a slight imbalance between the major players and smaller ship operator’s ability to manage higher costs, in the form of carbon taxation, if they continue to burn conventional fossil fuels. Nevertheless, the shipping industry as whole has shown resilience in the face of challenging regulatory landscape in the past, such as IMO 2020, so similar strength is needed to tackle future environment".
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:To read the full content, click on the following link Robban Assafina, Issue 95, Jan./ Feb. 2025, Edition Story, pg. 69 |
