KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shipowners are firing on all cylinders to address the pressing need to reduce emission across their vessel fleet, according to industry players.
However, they said short-term measures would be feasible or practical for shipowners to meet the obligation set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to halve shipping emissions by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.
The shipping regulator, under the United Nations, said global shipping accounted for about 3.0 per cent of the world's annual carbon emissions.
IMO said total shipping emissions could grow up to 130 per cent by 2050 if no action was taken.
It added that the pressure was getting intensified for the global shipping sector to reduce pollution and mitigate the calamitous impacts of climate change.
To date, over 200 shipping companies and organisations collectively agreed on the urgent action for shipping decarbonisation to fight climate change with intervention from the international maritime ecosystem and governments as well regulators globally.
Market observers said industry leaders prefer zero-emission vessels to be commercially "viable and investable" but the cost and the availability would be the biggest challenges that could derail the decarbonisation initiative.
Malaysian Shipowners' Association (MASA) chairman Datuk Abdul Hak Md Amin said the commitment to achieve the target had yet to be seen but most players would likely have short-term measures to reduce emission in their operations.
"Using liquified natural gas (LNG) is one of the options. But studies show this fuel, although emitting less carbon dioxide (CO2), it comprises methane that has the greenhouse effect on the atmosphere," he told the New Straits Times (NST) recently.
Abdul Hak said the local shipping industry was also eyeing alternative fuels such as methanol, hydrogen and ammonia.
He said another short-term measure was to reduce the sailing time by reducing the ship's speed.
"Reducing the ship's average speed will reduce the fuel consumption. Therefore, it reduces CO2 emissions. However, longer sailing time will have an economic impact on the business," he cautioned.
In general, Abdul Hak said Malaysian shipowners like other shipping companies worldwide, would wait for the new technology to be developed on which fuel most suited and economically viable for their newly built ships.
"The cost of building a ship running on LNG is almost double than the traditional fossil fuel. If other fuels like hydrogen or methanol are to be used, the cost too will be higher," he said, adding that the economic viability for these alternative fuels had yet to be explored.
Abdul Hak said using alternative fuel in the likes of LNG would not be feasible due to the current freight rate or charter rate.
"Even if there is a suitable alternative fuel for the shipping industry, the challenges among others will also involve the infrastructure to provide the fuel bunkering facilities and its safety aspects, especially in small ports.
"Currently with traditional fuel, no matter which ports the ship goes, there is a facility to take this fuel," he added.
Port Klang Authority general manager Capt K. Subramaniam said the port administrator was supportive of the decarbonisation roadmap envisaged by the IMO.
"We work closely with shipping lines. We are on the right track and many operators embark on this plan to abide by the IMO's regulations such as on the reduction of carbon emission and to utilise energy efficiency of ships," he told the NST when contacted recently.
Subramaniam said initially the capital cost would be higher as shipowners would have to consider operating energy-efficient vessels.
Nevertheless, he said operators can either retrofit their old ships or phase out their existing within the 10-year period or by 2030 to meet the new regulations.
"Shipbuilders need to comply with the Energy Efficiency Design Index – as part of the design stage requirement and must be approved by the Classification Society – an independent body to ensure the ship is built, operated and maintained according to IMO standards," he said.
Subramaniam said the cost of building new vessels to meet the requirement would not be a problem for large shipping lines but it could hurt small players.
"This applies for vessels with a minimum threshold of 400 gross tonnes (space for the ship able transport for cargo) set by IMO," he added.
However, he said small shipowners might not be impacted by the IMO rules but different governments may impose the same ruling on smaller vessels.
He concurred that the transition of using LNG powered vessels would be one of the ways to reduce emissions.
"It is a low-carbon fuel but not clean. Eventually, for zero-carbon – it has to be non-fossil fuel or renewable energy like methanol and ammonia as well as hydrogen for the future," he said.
Subramaniam said nuclear-powered vessels would not be commercially viable for commercial shipping but rather for the military.
On the electric vessel, he said the cargo capacity could be small with the need to recharge.
"This electric vessel also has shower sailing range with lower endurance. But it also suitable or confine to the only small boat such as tug boats and harbour vessel," he added.