Offshore staff
SCHIEDAM, the Netherlands– GustoMSC has issued a new report on potential uses of LNG to fuel mobile offshore units.
The rig/vessel designer points out that the maritime industry has to contend with increasingly stricter global and local emission limits, due to environmental awareness and political initiatives.
Offshore construction vessels, drillships, jackups, and semisubmersibles often operate in emission control areas (ECAs), and complying with the associated limits for Sulfur Oxides (SOx), Nitrous Oxides (NOx) and particulate matter emissions is therefore an important consideration both for units in service and newbuilds.
GustoMSC has been monitoring development of LNG as a marine fuel for several years, culminating in R&D into LNG for its design portfolio.
Its associated report found that LNG applications are feasible if all technical, operational, and economic aspects are considered at an early stage, with different possibilities for optimizing designs, business cases, and supply chains – all requiring careful alignment with the unit’s design and operations.
Douwe de Jong, the company’s project manager R&D and author of the report, said: “What we’ve tried to do with these concepts is to show a very big design space of options and discussion topics.”
The findings suggest that dynamically positioned vessels and semisubmersibles have the highest potential for fuel cost savings.
If implemented correctly, the result can be significant savings in fuel costs and emissions over a unit’s lifetime, and future-proofing with regard to new ECAs, emissions quotas, and increased global uptake of natural gas.
03/02/2017
