Decarbonisation efforts propelled by the growth of alternative-fuelled vessels
Published by Oliver Kleinschmidt,
Editorial Assistant
Dry Bulk,
The latest stats from DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform found that a total of 298 ships with alternative fuel propulsion were ordered in 2023 – an 8% increase year on year. The year also saw methanol go mainstream, with a sharp increase in orders to 138 new vessels, putting it neck and neck with LNG which saw orders of 130 new vessels. Additionally, 2023 marked a breakout year for ammonia, with 11 orders for vessels run on this fuel, and more in the pipeline.
With increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including stricter targets set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in July 2023, the maritime sector is considering a range of decarbonisation options. Through its AFI platform DNV registers the industry’s efforts related to newbuild vessels and retrofitting with 298 orders for vessels able to run on alternative fuels logged in 2023, and a total of 1281 ships overall.
Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO Maritime at DNV, said: “As we navigate towards a greener maritime future, the growing demand for alternative-fuelled vessels speaks volumes. These orders send pivotal signals to fuel providers and other important partners on shipping’s decarbonisation journey. While it is clear that the maritime fuel technology transition is already underway, we now need to ensure the fuels powering these engines become available.
By a small margin, methanol proved the most popular alternative fuel choice in 2023 with 138 ships ordered, a steep increase compared to the 35 ordered to run on this fuel the year before. The dominating segment for this fuel was container ships with 106 vessels, followed by bulk carriers with 13 vessels.
The second alternative fuel of choice in 2023 was LNG with 130 vessels ordered, down from 222 in 2022. However, when looking at newbuilds alone LNG would be in the lead as a considerable proportion of methanol orders were for retrofits. The year also saw the first orders for vessels due to run on ammonia with 11 orders come through, whereas with just five orders, hydrogen was a less popular choice compared to the previous year which has seen 18 orders.
Martin Wold, Principal Consultant in DNV’s Maritime Advisory business, commented: “Investments in alternative-fuelled vessels have been heavily driven by the container and car carrier newbuild boom over the last three years. It remains to be seen if this trend continues into 2024.”
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