Investing in flexible multi-fuel engines is today the most prudent way for a shipowner to meet the commercial and regulatory demands brought by environmental regulations, which are expected to drive fossil fuel costs higher, Yiannis Christopoulos, general manager of Greece and Cyprus at Wärtsilä Marine, told “Naftemporiki”.
The Finnish technology group offers innovative solutions to the shipping industry and the energy sector, having launched, among other things, a promising ammonia engine.
“With a small change of components, current ship engines can be converted to operate on different types of fuels, including LNG, biofuels, methanol and ammonia,” Christopoulos underlined.
“This flexibility allows ship operators to choose the most cost-effective and readily available fuel option at any given time. And most importantly, they avoid the risk of creating idle assets while addressing the ‘wait and see’ approach that slows down progress in decarbonizing the global fleet,” he added.
Cost spike
Speaking about the regulatory environment and regulations at the level of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union, Christopoulos estimated that they will drive the demand for new fuels.
As he noted, a recent Wärtsilä report on sustainable fuels for shipping to 2050 showed that the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the FuelEU Maritime Initiative (FEUM) will more than double the cost of using fossil fuels by 2030.
“By 2035, these measures will create cost parity between fossil and sustainable fuels, changing the balance in investment and fuel supply when operating in EU waters,” he explained.
Ammonia is a solution
“While not the only answer to the big question of which fuel will prevail in the future, ammonia is certainly one of the key candidates to help industry meet IMO emissions targets,” Christopoulos stressed.
