News

Hapag-Lloyd Declares General Average on Fire-Stricken Yantian Express
by The Loadstar
Monday, January 28, 2019
By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – Hapag-Lloyd has formally declared general average on its fire-stricken Yantian Express. A fire broke out in a container stowed on the 7,500 teu vessel en route to the Canadian port of Halifax early this month, which spread to other boxes while heavy weather rendered the crew’s fire-fighting efforts […]

Liberia Overtakes Marshall Islands as World’s Second Largest Ship Registry
by gCaptain
Monday, January 28, 2019
Liberia has surpassed rival Marshall Islands as the world’s second largest ship registry in terms of gross tonnage, according to leading shipping analyst Clarksons in its Clarksons World Fleet Monitor January 2019. Panama continues to hold the top spot as the largest registry in the world. Hong Kong and Singapore hold the fourth and fifth spots, […]

Shipping GHG Contribution Falls With Gas, Report Finds
by Ship Bunker
Monday, January 28, 2019

Study by Sustainable Gas Institute compares natural gas to heavy fuel oil.

Gas Has Potential to Cut Shipping GHGs 10%, Report Finds
by Ship Bunker
Monday, January 28, 2019

But questions linger over full lifecycle emissions, which at worst may be more.

Analyst Sees IMO2020 Benefit for US Gulf Refiners
by Ship Bunker
Monday, January 28, 2019

Feels Trump administration's delay policy is misguided.

Corvus Nets Five Ferry Battery Deal
by Ship Bunker
Monday, January 28, 2019

For all-electric vessels to be built in Norway.

“Sandy” Joins the Dots for BP
by The Maritime Executive
Monday, January 28, 2019

BP Ventures has invested $5 million in artificial intelligence it has named “Sandy” to enhance its upstream digital capabilities.

The investment supports BP’s ongoing work exploring opportunities to apply machine learning and cognitive computing in its global oil and gas business. In this case, it is directed at the Houston technology start-up Belmont Technology, a company that has developed a cloud-based geoscience platform using artificial intelligence (AI). 

The platform has a string of unique capabilities including specially-designed knowledge-graphs. BP experts feed the platform geology, geophysics, reservoir and historic project information. It intuitively links that information together, identifying new connections and workflows and creating a robust knowledge-graph of BP’s subsurface assets. Much like data searches available in the consumer domain, BP experts can then interrogate the data, asking the powerful knowledge-graph specific questions in natural language. The technology then uses AI neural networks to interpret results and perform rapid simulations. 

Aimed at accelerating project lifecycles, from exploration through to reservoir modeling, the technology is targeting a 90 percent time reduction in data collection, interpretation and simulation.

David Eyton, BP’s group head of technology, said: “This AI-based platform, which we’ve nicknamed Sandy, is expected to unlock critical data for our subsurface engineers at a much accelerated pace. Our experts will ask it questions about our reservoirs like, ‘What factors control production in the Chirag field?’ Sandy will then interpret our data, including mapping out many more scenarios than are currently constructed, helping us make faster, better informed upstream decisions.”

BP’s investment will enable Belmont Technology to expand its workforce, extend Sandy’s capabilities and accelerate the deployment of its product.

This investment follows BP’s previous deals in cognitive computing, including $20 million in Series B funding in AI company Beyond Limits. That investment is helping deploy AI technology previously used in deep space exploration missions in offshore exploration, accelerating operational insight and process automation across operations. One of the projects is to examine how to mitigate the impact of sand production in wells, with BP experts teaching the system so that their expertise becomes available digitally.

Belmont’s scalable knowledge-graphs can be interrogated by Beyond Limits’ technology for new insights. 

Video below courtesy of the Society of Petroleum Engineers:

Scrubber Advocates Voice Concern Over Circumstances of Fujairah's Open-Loop Ban
by Ship Bunker
Monday, January 28, 2019

CSA2020 members want to understand the environmental data behind the decision, while scrubber sceptic Euronav says "the mood music changing."

Smell the Roses, Then Stomp on Them
by CW4 MICHAEL W. CARR
Sunday, January 27, 2019
The Instructor, a retired Navy SEAL, spoke with a quite, steady and commanding voice: “Load one nine round magazine, lower the hammer, place your weapon on safe, re-holster, and raise your right hand when you have completed these actions.” Clear and concise. Each of his ten students followed these commands. Soon ten right hands went up. […]

SEA\LNG: LNG has Fast Payback for Liner Route
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, January 27, 2019

SEA\LNG has released an independent study revealing a strong investment case for LNG as a marine fuel in the container shipping market.

Peter Keller, Chairman, SEA\LNG, stated: “We commissioned this study from independent simulation and analytics expert Opsiana to support shipowners and operators in analysing their investment opportunities in an informed way, while simultaneously providing deeper analysis of the assumptions that go into the 2020 decision process.”
 
He continued: “The study unequivocally shows that for this vessel type, on this trade route, LNG as a marine fuel delivers the best return on investment on a net present value (NPV) basis over a conservative 10-year horizon, with fast payback periods ranging from one to two years.”
 
The results of the study, which analyses the case of a newbuild 14,000 TEU container vessel operating on an Asia-US West Coast (USWC) liner routing and compares six fuel pricing scenarios, challenge commonly held assumptions in relation to the economic performance of LNG bunkers.
 
The results are even more compelling given the investment scenarios are compiled and compared based upon on a route with very little voyage time (eight percent) in Emission Control Areas (ECAs).  LNG is also proven to be the best investment across a broad spectrum of business climates from strong freight markets with elevated vessel operating speeds to weak freight markets where slow steaming is employed.
 
The study further indicates that LNG provides a greater ROI than alternative compliance solutions, including the installation of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), or scrubbers, across five out of six of the fuel scenarios explored. It also reveals a diminishing CAPEX hurdle, competitive energy costs, the stability of LNG pricing, and the realistic cost of scrubbers. Moreover, these higher returns were achieved without factoring in the significant additional benefits gained by choosing LNG as a more environmentally-friendly marine fuel;  a choice that increasingly possesses a currency value as major global brands and beneficial cargo owners demand cleaner logistics chains.
 
The analysis is supported by SEA\LNG’s 36 member organisations, who contributed maritime expertise and current, timely background information and data from across the LNG value chain.
 
While this study focuses specifically on the investment case for LNG within a key liner trade route, the coalition is collaborating with third parties on further independent research which will analyse the investment case for different vessel types and additional liner trade routes.
 
Keller concluded: “At a time when shipowners and operators deserve factual information with which to analyse options in an informed way, there have been too many unqualified assumptions about the investment case for LNG. While there remain many unanswered questions about the choice and prices of marine fuels going into 2020, SEA\LNG will continue its commercially-focused studies to provide authoritative intelligence regarding the investment case for LNG as a marine fuel for shipowners, shipyards, ports and wider stakeholders.” 

The report is available here.