Bill Bryant, Stolt-Nielsen’s managing director for APAC & MEA and head of sustainability, explored upcoming bunkering trends with other industry leaders at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)’s conference (SIBCON) in Singapore.
Bryant urges the shipping industry to take ‘scalability and economic viability of the whole production supply chain’ into consideration when weighing the benefits of alternative fuels, as each brings different economic and financial implications of them. For example, different solutions may be required for smaller ships to fortify the cargo capacity for a particular fuel.
Bryant explained that many fuels require specialised equipment or additional handling procedures before they can be used, which means they are not currently viable alternatives. At present, biodiesel is the only readily available alternative.
‘Ultimately, the industry must continue to look at multiple pathways to assess greener marine fuel options because the preferred fuels of the future have yet to be identified. Our experts at Stolt Tankers believe that there will be no silver bullet to the future fuel conundrum. Rather than one solution, the industry will select different fuels for different types of ships, and it is important not to eliminate any of the current options too early as an industry,’ says Bryant.
