Is LNG to be Used as Fuel for Ships in the Baltic Sea?

The Danish Maritime Authority has become the project leader on a study of the possibilities to establish LNG filling stations for short sea shipping.

As part of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, efforts are being made for ships to get far easier access to the environmentally friendly fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the future.

LNG is a possible solution to the ambitious goals for reducing the sulphur emissions from shipping which the EU has set from 2015.

At the same time, engine manufacturers do, to an increasing extent, offer solutions capable of using LNG as fuel.

But the extension hereof requires an infrastructure of LNG filling stations.

On 26 May 2010, a meeting was held at the premises of the Danish Maritime Authority with participants from the states bordering on the Baltic Sea and Norway, ports and interest organisations, where light was shed on this complex of problems from the point of view of the shipowners, LNG suppliers and engine manufacturers.

The meeting led to the following decisions:

* A basis must be made for taking decisions to be used by the EU and the above-mentioned parties for the development of an infrastructure of LNG filling stations in the Baltic Sea. The proposal must take a closer look at safety, technical solutions and the economy.

* Simultaneous with the drafting hereof, efforts must be made to launch pilot projects incorporating international voyages.The present experiences gained in the field of LNG have almost entirely been made by Norway.

* It must be examined whether the work could be extended to the North Sea and the English Channel since the same regulations apply to the sulphur content of fuel in these three areas and since short sea shipping binds the three waters together.

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Source: Danish Maritime Authority, June 3, 2010;