Speaking at the keynote session of CMA Shipping 2023 in Connecticut,
ABS Vice President, Regional Business Development North America, Roy
Bleiberg, laid out his view on what the industry can expect in
2023 when it comes to decarbonisation. Preparing for rapid technology
advancement and regulatory change in the maritime industry cannot be business
as usual, according to
ABS.
“Rapid
change is now the one constant for all of us. Whether this is driven by the
addition of carbon as a revenue stream to your balance sheets, or the ripple
effect of alternative fuels across your operations, or even the geopolitical
influences driving change in established trades, we foresee entire business
models changing as a result,” said
Bleiberg.
“I would argue that in 2023 is going to
accelerate the curve and it must if we’re going to hit our 2050 targets.”
The IMO’s
MEPC 80 is expected to be a regulatory accelerator of change in
the industry and ABS anticipates the meeting will expand the scope of emissions
to account for the full lifecycle of a fuel. Between that and the inclusion of
ship operations through CII regulations, more stakeholders will be brought into the maritime decarbonisation
conversation to face the mounting challenges.
“2023 will see
a significant increase in demand for fuel flexibility as operators
look to hedge against geopolitical-driven price volatility, and the need for
global bunkering infrastructure development. Currently, dual fuel and dual fuel
ready vessels represent 35% of the vessels on water, 57% if you go by gross
tonnage. That will increase as the available fuel mix widens this year, with
methanol retrofit trials beginning in earnest, and with ammonia engines
becoming available in 2024,” said
Bleiberg.
Beneath
the domination of LNG in the dual fuel fleet and orderbook, ammonia- and
methanol-ready vessels are growing in popularity and significant further growth
is expected in the coming months.
“2023 is likely to be a year of very
rapid methanol growth.” “If
there was one word to describe 2023 I would choose acceleration…We know 2023
will be a year of profound change,” said Bleiberg.