The maritime industry runs towards decarbonization and transitions to new fuels. Ammonia is widely seen by many companies as the ideal fuel for tomorrow’s zero-carbon operations and methanol already in the shipbuilding. But except the challenging future there is also the today along with some interesting questions about the journey to this direction. Mr Dimitris Poulos, Marine Division Manager Adriatic Region – Managing Director Alfa Laval Greece, answers to a number of questions such as: Are the decarbonization targets easy to be achieved? How other industries and states will influence the development & establishment of these fuels on board vessels? How Alfa Laval anticipated and helped customers in recent crisis events and how you see the market today? The full exclusive interview of Mr Poulos follows:
As the maritime industry runs towards decarbonization and transitions to new fuels, which is the Alfa Laval stand on this direction?
Alfa Laval is looking on that direction with high focus and we want to be pioneer on that journey. We are giving very high focus in
the alternative fuel technology, as always we had an expertise in fuel treatment , and also to all technologies that are giving energy efficiency on board and reduces emissions, energy, waste and fuel consumption. Through our own R&D , alliances, acquisitions, joint ventures & minor stake holding in new start ups , we are trying
to develop more our know how in new technologies that will lead future decarbonization & energy efficiency equipment. Our organization is not enough to cover all the possibilities and new ideas that are coming in the market and for this reason we are working mainly with partnerships and not only with other manufacturers but also with shipowners that are sharing same directions with us. Currently we are already in the fourth generation of scrubbers & preparing the new version after the last MEPC guidelines, we have configured our separators to work with biofuels, we have a new Waste Heat Recovery system , and new energy storage system , the E Power Pack. Also already we supply methanol booster systems
to methanol vessels, we have ready our methanol burners for our boilers we test fuel cells in our R&D center, we have a new joint venture with Wallenious to design & produce wind boost systems , and recently we are have been major stakeholders of the company MPS , a company that produces air lubrication systems for fuel oil energy savings and soon will become and ALFA LAVAL product with the name OceanGlide. The above are some of the new products
& developments , for sure more will come in the near future, ALFA LAVAL wants to lead the way forward.
How challenging is the journey that you describe? Are the decarbonization targets easy to be achieved?
As we explained before , this is very complicated. Maritime industry really will be challenged a lot on that journey as the targets are very strong and strict from the timeframe point of view where other business areas are less. But targets must be financially viable in order shipowners to adopt. And there are so many stakeholders in the process that have to be aligned. In the end will be a cost for the
alignment that this will be transferred to the cost of transportation operations. And as you know ship transportation represents the 90% of the global transportation. How ready are governments to absorb this increase of cost? See what is happening with the energy prices and how much governmental policies are vibrating. In any case, a strong financial help will be needed in order maritime industry to be decarbonized and for sure this has to be done step by step in order to absorption of additional costs to be done smoothly. As a conclusion, we, our partners, our customers and others in the marine industry are working to achieve the decarbonization we all know must happen. The private sector can and must work faster, but a global framework of policies, resources and financial incen- tives is needed to make that feasible.
Ammonia is widely seen by many companies as the ideal fuel for tomorrow’s zero-carbon operations and methanol already in the shipbuilding. How ready is Alfa Laval to deal with these fuels?
Ammonia has some good characteristics from the thermodynamic point of view to be the fuel of the future but there are a lot of concerns about its toxicity and how safe will be the use of it on board especially in passenger vessels. For this reason , Alfa Laval – as world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – has joined a project with DTU Energy, Haldor Topsoe, Svitzer and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon to accelerate first the development of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, which can use green fuels to generate electricity. As
it concerns Ammonia boosting to engines already we are testing equipment in our R&D center and we have a clear roadmap about development of this technology. In the methanol , already we are producing booster methanol systems and are being installed in ships. In Boilers , already we have Methanol burning boilers and we quote to the yards accordingly. Alfa Laval will continue head similar development initiatives in alternative fuels, with the aim to find scalable solutions for noncarbon fuels for the shipping industry.
How other industries and states will influence the development & establishment of these fuels on board vessels?
Same as it is happening with LNG, the question will not be only what fuel will be feasible for using on board but also how easy & cost wise feasible will be his storage & transportation and how dependent will be from state infrastructure or not. So, the puzzle is even more difficult as right now still technology is not well applied for several fuels for propulsion that will be major parameter for evaluation in order to after the community to study the infrastructure challenges. For this reason initiatives as “Call to Action” are necessary in order to be a well coordinated approach when are existing the full data for the correct evaluation of the different fuels. For sure will be challenges in the first period but usually the market see these like opportunities , when will be indications about dominant fuel then supply chain and infrastructure projects will be applied and will be adjusted accordingly.
You referred to the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization. Why and in which way Alfa Laval is participating on that initiative?
The targets of the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization are in line with the sustainability work already occurring within Alfa Laval’s scope. With the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 in focus, Alfa Laval strives to continuously im- prove its own sustainability, aiming to be carbon neutral across the value chain by 2030. Alfa Laval is a member of the Getting to Zero Coalition, which initiated the Call to Action for Shipping Decarbonization and established the task force to develop
it. Through the Call to Action, we and our co-signatories are asking governments for a robust approach to climate change, importantly, that involves not only setting more ambitious maritime goals, but also creating the conditions to make those goals achievable. While technologies for zero-emission vessels exist, they need to be further developed and brought up to scale. Likewise, they need to become financially viable for shipowners to adopt. National initiatives and global coordination are needed to make this happen, along with market incentives to make zero-emission fuels more attractive compared to traditional choices. Maritime businesses should see opportunity in taking swift steps towards decarbonization, rather than additional risk. Alfa Laval is at the forefront of new fuel and energy management technologies, and we believe that decarbonization can be achieved while protecting shipowner competitiveness.
Other relevant developments & initiatives from ALFA LAVAL towards this direction?
Our Air lubrication system with the patented microbuble technology for sure will make the difference in the energy saving . And in combination with the data that are coming from our new acquired company STORMGEO, we fully believe that in certain circumstances the system will be able to give even 10% of net saving to specific but wide range flat bottom vessels. Is a great step towards energy efficiency on board. But our state of the art will be OceanBird , our wind propulsion system where already a pilot vessel will have installed wings in September 2024.
But expect the challenging future there is also the today. How Alfa Laval anticipated and helped customers in recent crisis events and how you see the market today.
Pandemic really was a crisis very challenging for shipping & all industries. Travelling has become very difficult and also the presence of relevant superintendents from shipowners on board was not always easy. A lot of technical issues have to be solved by relevant distance. Alfa Laval with relevant global footprint & network was able to anticipate & really help our customers as we are present in more 100 ports globally and with three distributor centers and global sourcing facilities we have absorbed the supply chain issues generally much better than other manufacturers. The war added some more challenges especially in supply chain of certain parts but our global establishment really help us to anticipate.
Market seems very fruitful for the tankers, bulk carriers are turbulent but in the healthy levels , containers are normal and generally as average we are in a good momentum. Shipbuilding is starting again with strong numbers despite increased prices of new ships. This fact make us as a global manufacturer of shipbuilding equipment to see also short term period with high optimism about our financial result.
* Division Manager Adriatic Region – Managing Director Alfa Laval Greece