Titan LNG, the service supplier of liquefied natural gas to the marine and industrial markets in North West Europe, said the stage has been set for a push in the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel beyond the tipping point.
The order book for LNG-powered ships grew substantially, the LNG bunkering infrastructure is maturing and the pricing of LNG has become structurally competitive versus MGO, Titan LNG said in a brief statement.
The company noted that in 2017, around 11 percent of all newbuild contracts were LNG powered ships, expecting the trend to continue during 2018.
During the year, Titan LNG signed off construction of its first LNG bunkering pontoon in Europe, the FlexFueler1, and taken further steps in the development of LNG truck-to-ship bunkering, and signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on serving marine liquefied natural gas (LNG) customers in the North Sea and the Baltic with Skangas.
The company adds that ship owners are facing a choice with 2020 approaching: run on MGO, HFO with scrubbers, or go for LNG.
“Titan LNG believes that scrubbers can only be a temporary solution and that LNG fuelled ships, combined with power-to-gas or biogas offer a credible and cost competitive path to decarbonization and improved air quality,” the statement reads.
The company adds that it is confident that overcoming the barriers to scaling up LNG as a transportation fuel is worth it and we stand by our mission to help eradicate oil burn.