The fleet of alternative-fuelled vessels could almost double by 2028 from 2024, driven by LNG, according to Norwegian classification agency DNV's latest forecast.
Dual-fueled vessels make up three-quarters of the order book for containerships. But only one in five large tankers and one in twenty large bulkers on order can burn alternative marine fuels, according to the report.
Orders for ships able to run on LNG are higher than for other fuels. The LNG bunkering structure is more advanced in ports when compared with other alternative bunker fuels. Methanol, ammonia and hydrogen still lack infrastructure investments.
The maritime industry will have to increase its consumption of fuels with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 25mn t/yr of oil equivalent from the 1mn t/yr of oil equivalent it currently consumes to meet the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) 2030 base targets, DNV's report said.
But the maritime industry faces competition from other heavy industries for lower-GHG fuels, particularly biofuels, e-fuels and the so-called blue fuels — fuels such as ammonia or hydrogen produced from gas with the use of carbon capture, the report said.
Vessels that can use alternative bunker fuels account for 8.9pc of the fleet in operation and 51.1pc of ships on the order book by gross tonnage, DNV said. When measured by the number of ships, only 2.4pc of vessels in operation and 26.5pc on the order book can use marine fuels other than fuel oil, as smaller ships are behind larger ships in changing their bunkering options to alternative fuels.
