Tough new rules on marine fuel are forcing shipowners to explore liquefied natural gas as a cleaner alternative, in a development which will be welcomed in Malta, where fumes from cruise liners in Grand Harbour are reaching toxic levels 10 times higher than the island’s most congested roads.
From 2020, International Maritime Organization rules will ban ships from using fuels with a sulphur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, unless they are equipped to clean up sulphur emissions. This will be enforced by fines levied by the IMO’s member states.
Using LNG to power ships instead of heavy fuel oil or the lighter marine gasoil can reduce polluting emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides by 90 to 95 percent, according to industry estimates.
The British territory of Gibraltar is in the process of launching an LNG-fuelled power station whose accompanying storage tanks will also be able to be used to refuel cargo ships via barges.
Gibraltar already supplies the most marine fuel of any port in the Mediterranean and aims to do the same with LNG, said Manuel Tirado, chief executive of the Gibraltar Port Authority.
“The GPA’s aim is to be the number one LNG…
