Impact from alternative fuels on terminals

Bunkering is a necessary and common practice for supplying fuels to deepsea vessels; and ship to ship method is a common method. This activity usually takes place when the vessel is berthed at a terminal, parallel to the normal cargo operations. Deepsea vessels are the most important clients for a terminal, the goal of a terminal is to turn the vessel around within the agreed contracted time. In this context, bunkering operation should not hinder the vessel performance. Currently some NGOs (e.g. International Association of Ports and Harbors, IAPH) do come up with several checklists for several types of alternative fuels (e.g. for LNG, hydrogen, and methanol). The main purpose of these checklists is to ensure safe bunkering operations and no harm will happen to the environment.

 However, even though the checklists cover detailed operational frameworks, they do not include the overall impact to the terminal cargo operations during bunkering. These bunkering requirements potentially can have a significant impact on terminal operations: for a instance, perhaps a specific area needs to be kept empty without any equipment or activities for safety reason. Furthermore, if a terminal needs to temporarily store and handle alternative fuels, what kind of equipment and handling processes is suitable for each fuel type?

Moreover, unlike traditional bunker fuels (limited types of fuels), it’s very likely that in the future there will be a portfolio of alterative fuels used to power vessels. As each alternative fuel type bring its own handling requirements because of the associated material characteristics, it is crucial for terminals to have a good understanding on the consequent impact.

Literature research on

• Material characteristics of alternative fuels 
• Bunkering methods and the associated processes and equipment 

• Interview on industry parties (e.g. terminals and port authorities, NGOs) 
• Terminal design methodology and material handling principles 
• Quantify impact with dynamic simulations

Master Shipping and Transport (RMI).

• Overview on possible alternative fuels, their material characteristics and possible bunkering methods.
• Impact from alternative fuel bunkering on terminal operations (incl. quantified results) 
• Conceptual design on alternative fuel handling and storage (refined design using dynamic simulation models)