It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Study: LNG Will Be Most Affordable Compliance Option for EU GHG Rules
An LNG-powered boxship under construction (CMA CGM file image)
LNG has its critics in environmental circles, but its fiscal attractiveness is clear, according to industry advocacy group SEA-LNG. Setting aside any debate about LNG's environmental merits, it will be the least-cost option for boxship owners who need to meet EU compliance requirements for GHG reduction, the group argues in a newly-released analysis.
LNG is one of the most affordable marine fuels under normal market conditions, and it has a lower emissions profile than HFO or VLSFO. Using SEA-LNG's estimate for LNG's well-to-wake greenhouse gas reduction benefit - about 20 percent below VLSFO - switching to LNG is itself enough to comply with the FuelEU Maritime GHG reduction requirements out through the year 2039. After that, operators would have to blend in varying proportions of costlier bio-LNG and e-LNG. (E-LNG may be the most expensive alternative fuel, according to the Maersk McKinney-Moller Center for Zero Carbon Zhipping).
As the proportion of "green" fuel in the blend goes up to meet strengthened requirements, so does the cost for compliance - except for ammonia, which declines in price and becomes cheaper than a 50 percent gray / 50 percent renewable LNG mix by 2050. Blue ammonia (produced from natural gas with carbon capture) comes out as the most cost-effective option by midcentury, but not before.
"It is clear from this analysis that the LNG pathway to compliance offers massively lower fuel costs than that for both the methanol and ammonia pathways, particularly in the first 15 years of the vessel’s life – a period critical for vessel financing decisions. The methanol pathway is approximately 2.5 times more expensive and the ammonia pathway, 2.5 to 3.5 times more expensive," concluded SEA-LNG.
Reducing methane slip
Most of the debate around LNG's climate effectiveness centers on methane emissions. Natural gas is mostly methane, a gas with substantially higher warming potential than CO2, and a percentage escapes during upstream extraction, transport and liquefaction. LNG-powered ships also emit varied amounts of methane during operation, with the amount dependent on engine type and operating profile.
This last emissions category - methane slip - has captured the public debate for years, with some environmental groups arguing that it makes LNG an unattractive alternative. Though this debate gets headlines, it may soon be over. The industry's biggest players are quietly working to eliminate engine emissions of LNG by 2030, according to Steve Esau, SEA-LNG's chief operating officer.
"There are a number of companies on the shipping side and the OEM side who are investing a significant amount of money to measure where the operational emissions are coming from on board ship, and then looking at solutions for addressing those," says Esau. "That would be a combination of operational solutions and pre- and post-combustion technologies to deal with methane slip. And I think they're very confident that methane slip will be eradicated by the end of the decade."
NZ Fishing Vessel Confiscated for Failure to Report 20 Kilos of Coral
A court in New Zealand has ordered the forfeiture of a commercial fishing vessel over the crew's failure to report bycatch of about 20 kilos of coral.
In October 2020, the trawler Tasman Viking was operating near Lord Howe Rise, off the coast of eastern Australia. On one cast of her trawl net, the net came back with an unknown quantity of bamboo coral caught in the mesh. Under the rules of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the South Pacific, bottom trawlers have to report all taking of vulnerable corals and sponges. There is a take limit of 15 kilos, and if it is reached, the vessel must halt bottom fishing in the area. This mechanism is designed to protect bamboo coral, a deep-sea species that is particularly vulnerable to trawl damage.
However, the crew of the Tasman Viking did not report the haul of coral, even though fisheries observers were on board and watching. Instead, they shot the nets again, pulling most of the coral back over the side and destroying the evidence. The observers weighed about 2.8 kilos worth of material that remained behind and took photos of the operation.
New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries pursued an enforcement suit against the operator, Westfleet, for failing to report the bycatch. An expert witness for the ministry estimated that the net had brought up about 20 kilos of coral, exceeding the take limit; Westfleet's lawyer argued that the amount was far lower. Ultimately, presiding magistrate Judge David Ruth ruled that the quantity did not have bearing on the offense, which hinged on reporting.
On Monday, Westfleet Fishing pleaded guilty to a breach of its permit requirements and failure to report the take of coral. Describing the firm's compliance culture as "cavalier," Judge Ruth sentenced the company to NZ$74,000 in fines (including penalties levied on crewmembers) and the forfeiture of the vessel, which is worth millions. While this may sound like a stiff penalty, New Zealand law allows the owner to appeal to the court to have the forfeiture changed to a fine, potentially a lower amount than the total value of the ship.
"All commercial fishers are required to hold a permit to fish the SPRFMO fishing area, and reporting organisms from the sea floor such as coral and sponges caught is an important requirement. The rules are agreed by the countries of the South Pacific and are there for a reason – to protect the ocean environment and prevent fishing from causing damage to vulnerable marine ecosystems on the seafloor," said Fisheries New Zealand Regional Manager of Fisheries Compliance, Howard Reid.
In a statement to local media, Westfleet said that the failure to report was unintentional, and it is strengthening crew training to prevent any recurrence.
Learnings from the Preventable Grounding of MV Pasha Bulker
Three separate root causes led to MV Pasha Bulker running aground at Newcastle, Australia, on June 7, 2007. She had been at anchor about 2.5 nm off the coast, waiting to load coal, when a violent storm with 50 knot winds passed through. She dragged her anchor, and attempted to sail but was unable to make way through the water or hold steerage. She grounded on Nobby's Beach at 0950 after a protracted fight to control the vessel, leaving a spectacular hull fetched up on the beach for over three months.
Cause 1: Weather warnings unheeded
There were 56 ships at anchor when the weather deteriorated around 0200 on June 7. By 0400, 16 had departed, and by 0700 only 9 remained, including Pasha Bulker. All vessels eventually put to sea, but three had serious difficulty manoeuvring. The master of Pasha Bulker later stated he had faith in the holding power of his ship. He laid out extra anchor cable, but this had little effect. Had the warnings been heeded earlier, Pasha Bulker (and others) may have put to sea much earlier, before the situation became so dire.
Cause 2: State of ballast
Because Pasha Bulker was waiting to load, she was in a light-ballast condition (she was not holding much ballast water onboard - and ballast water adds mass). That means she was 10-20,000 tonnes lighter than usual, and sat higher in the water. In turn, this means her propellor and rudder were not sufficiently submerged, particularly while pitching. During the gale, her propellor repeatedly broke the water, rendering it ineffective. After Pasha Bulker weighed her anchor, intending to steam to sea, the ship could not gain propulsion or steering during the storm - meaning she had no navigational control over steerage or propulsion. Had the officers recognized the precarious state of ballast, Pasha Bulker may have flooded her ballast tanks, deepened her draft, decreased her windage, and immersed her propellor and rudder.
Cause 3: Inability to deploy anchors
At 0650, Pasha Bulker started dragging anchor about 2.3 nm from the coast. She weighed anchor at 0710, and by 0748 she had closed to 1.2 nm from shore. By 0845 (1 hr before grounding) the vessel was not under control and rolling up to 43 degrees (a treacherous state of roll). Winds were gusting to 50 knots, and it was unsafe for the crew to proceed to the bow to deploy the anchors. Had the vessel been able to let go her anchors, she may have had holding power to slow her closing the coast, take on ballast, and gain propulsion control.
Findings
The Government regulator, New South Wales Maritime, recommended no charges against the master (as his negligence was not 'beyond reasonable doubt'), but did criticize his seamanship as poor, and recommend his CoC issuing authority review his qualification. NSW Maritime also recommended the Port of Newcastle review their anchorage management, communication equipment and SOP's. The vessel was a public spectacle for over three months before it could be dragged off the beach in an impressive salvage operation.
Cameron Livingstone MNI is the secretary of the South Eastern Australia Branch of The Nautical Institute, which covers the region of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The Institute's aim is to promote professionalism, best practice and safety throughout the maritime industry and to represent the interests of its members.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
Manpower Shortage Could Derail UK’s Offshore Wind Industry
UK needs more trained professional to support the growth of its wind industry (file photo)
As the UK moves into its next phase of growth for its offshore wind energy industry, a new report warns the industry risks being derailed by a lack of manpower. They are calling on the government to develop a strategy to ensure a skilled and diverse workforce is available over the next seven years, a period in which jobs are forecast to exceed 100,000.
The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) asserts that for the UK to maintain its leadership in offshore wind, a strategy to tackle skills shortages in key areas such as planning and consenting, high voltage electrical technicians, engineers, turbine technicians, and those with a range of digital skills is urgently needed.
The report highlights that the government increased the target from 30 GW by 2030 which had initially been set in the Offshore Wind Sector Deal of 2019. They however contend that addressing the skill gaps in the immediate and medium term is critical for the country to attain its new target of reaching 50 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, including 5GW of floating wind up from the 13.6 GW of connected offshore wind energy today.
OWIC, a government and industry forum established to drive the development of the offshore wind sector in the UK, has produced a report that shows that to manage the expected offshore wind project pipeline, the industry needs to be able to attract and retain an average of 10,000 people per year. In the long term, they contend the government needs to roll out a STEM engagement plan with young people to guarantee the availability of skilled manpower for the industry.
According to the report, the industry is forecast to employ 104,401 people by 2030 to meet current targets, an increase of 6,936 since last year’s forecast. Currently, the workforce has increased to over 32,000, up four percent compared to the end of 2021 including 17,000 direct jobs and nearly 15,000 indirect jobs. In the short-to-medium term, rapid growth in jobs is needed as several offshore wind farms progress to the construction phase, with 88,509 jobs required by 2026, which is over 56,000 more than today’s workforce.
“The offshore wind sector needs many more people in the short, medium, and long term to power ahead. All of us – across industry and government – need to work even closer together to develop a bold new strategy that attracts all the skills we need to surge ahead as fast as possible,” said Richard Sandford, OWIC Co-Chair.
The UK has established itself as a global leader in both fixed-bottom and floating wind. Currently, the country has the second-biggest operational offshore wind capacity and the second-largest offshore wind pipeline, second only to China which recently surpassed the UK in the level of installed offshore power generation.
This week RenewableUK released market intelligence data showing the country’s pipeline of offshore wind projects has reached 98 GW, up from 91 GW a year ago. China has a pipeline with 157 GW, followed by the U.S. in third place with 82 GW, Sweden is fourth with 75 MW, and Brazil fifth with 63 GW.
“To ensure we can meet the existing ambition, it’s essential for us to work right across our own industry, across adjacent industries with transferable skills, and with the next generation, to make offshore wind an attractive career choice for people from the widest range of backgrounds and with a whole variety of different skill sets,” said Jane Cooper, RenewableUK Director of Offshore Wind.
OWIC highlights the UK has committed to increasing the proportion of women working in offshore wind following an increase of 4.6 percent since 2019 to 20.6 percent of the workforce. The ultimate target in line with the government in the Offshore Wind Sector Deal is a third of all workforce being women.
Progress is also being achieved in ensuring the industry becomes more diverse in terms of ethnicity. Currently, seven percent of the workforce is from non-white backgrounds compared to 3.8 percent in 2021. The industry has committed to meeting the target of nine percent of workers from ethnic minority backgrounds in 2030.
Cadeler and Eneti to Merge into Leader in Wind Installation
Cadeler's Wind Osprey will be part of the largest installation fleet after the merger (Cadeler)
Cadeler and Eneti, two emerging wind turbine and foundation installation companies, announced plans to merge into a powerhouse company that will have global reach and could control as much as a quarter of the market. According to the companies, the merger responds to the emerging trends in the offshore wind sector where customers have increasingly complex projects as the size of wind turbines grows and the sites become more challenging.
“The combination will represent a significant step up in our ability to meet the increased demand globally for projects with larger scopes and project sizes in service of the much-needed green transition,” says Mikkel Gleerup, who is being credited with engineering the combination and will continue as CEO of the combined company which will be known as Cadeler. “We will provide our customers with the largest and most diverse fleet in the industry.”
Terms of the stock-for-stock combination call for Eneti to merge into Cadeler at a rate of just over 3.4 shares to 1 creating a combined company with an estimated market value above $1.3 billion traded on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges. Cadeler’s investors will hold 60 percent of the combined company while Eneti’s shareholders will represent approximately 40 percent if all the shares are tendered. Cadeler intends to conduct a “squeeze-out merger” once it has 85 percent of Eneti’s shares.
Cadeler traces its history back 15 years formed as a combination of shipping and engineering for the offshore sector. Today, its largest investors are BW and Swire-Pacific. Eneti was the rebirth of the former dry bulk operator Scorpio which just two years ago announced it would enter the business divesting of its bulkers and later acquired Seajacks to accelerate the transition into the offshore sector. The deal brings together two well-known leaders in the shipping industry with Andreas Sohmen-Pao continuing as Chairman of Cadeler and Emanuele Lauro transitioning from CEO of Eneti to Vice Chairman of the combined company.
Sohmen-Pao highlights the strategic nature of the combination which the companies said have complementary fleets and will gain a global presence, and the ability to operate more efficiently, and target larger projects. Lauro cites the value in the combination and changing demands of the industry.
Combined they report they will have the largest and most diverse fleet of turbine and foundation installation vessels. Cadeler has two wind turbine installation vessels operating and two more on order due for delivery in the third quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025. They also have two wind foundation vessels scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the third quarter of 2026. Eneti currently has five vessels in operation, although they plan to divest three as part of the transaction. Eneti is also building two wind turbine installation vessels due for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025.
They are forecasting more than $100 million in synergy including nearly $50 million in operations as well as more than $50 million through improved utilization of the fleet.
The combination is subject to the customary closing conditions including approval by both groups of shareholders. Cadeler’s two largest shareholders, which combined hold approximately 45 percent of the shares, have agreed to vote in favor while Eneti’s largest holder and management, holding 36 percent, have entered into tender agreements. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Ørsted has announced that it will be entering the Irish offshore wind market, unveiling an agreement with Ireland’s leading utility company ESB to develop up to 5GW of offshore wind and complementary renewable hydrogen projects.
The first of these offshore wind projects are expected to be complete in the next Irish Offshore wind auction, ORESS 2.1.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, launched the agreement on Friday in Cork, accompanied by ESB’s Jim Dollard and Ørsted’s Head of UK and Ireland. Orsted will become a 50 percent partner in a series of offshore wind development projects off Ireland’s coast.
The ESB-Ørsted partnership aims to help deliver on the Irish government’s 2030 target of installing 7 GW of offshore wind and ultimately support Ireland’s transition to net-zero.
“We have signed into law an ambitious Climate Action Plan, which includes a target to generate 80 percent of our electricity from renewable sources. A National Industrial Strategy for Offshore Wind from my department will further support this. Today’s announcement is a strong vote of confidence in Ireland’s sustainable future,” said Minister Simon Coveney.
ESB already has a strong renewable energy portfolio, with over 5GW of offshore wind capacity in development around the coast of Ireland. Some of the projects include Oriel Offshore Wind, Clogherhead Offshore Wind, and Celtic offshore wind among others.
ESB had previously developed most of these projects with the Norwegian energy multinational Equinor, before it ended its partnership in 2021.
Last month, Ireland successfully held its first-ever offshore wind auction (ORESS 1). Four projects with a combined capacity of 3 GW were awarded. A second round is scheduled by the end of this year, where additional offshore wind capacity will be procured.
U.S.-Backed Developer Has Big Plans for Floating Wind in Philippines
The Madrid-based offshore wind developer BlueFloat Energy has entered the Philippines renewable energy sector, with the CEO Carlos Martin Rivals revealing last week that the company is planning to install about 7.6 GW of floating offshore wind capacity, divided among four sites.
The locations where BlueFloat Energy acquired wind energy service contracts (WESCs) include Central Luzon, South Luzon, Northern Luzon and Southern Mindoro.
“We expect the first of these projects to be in execution phase and nearing completion by the end of this decade,” said Rivals.
BlueFloat Energy’s largest shareholder is the U.S.-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners. Its portfolio for offshore wind has a planned capacity of 32 GW in ten countries across the globe, and the Philippines has the largest share.
In the Asia Pacific region, BlueFloat Energy plans to put up 6.6 GW of offshore wind power each in Taiwan and Australia, and 1.9 GW in New Zealand.
The Philippines has potential to install about 21 GW of offshore wind power by 2040. The country’s total technical potential is 178 GW, according to the World Bank, owing to large areas around the country’s coast that have immense extractable wind resources.
Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked the nation’s energy department to put together a policy framework to expedite the licensing process for offshore wind projects. The order supplements the country’s Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) platform, a web-based system intended to remove bureaucratic barriers for investors.
The Philippine DOE said it has awarded 63 offshore wind contracts so far, with a total potential capacity of 49 GW.
Harland & Wolff to Lead Development of Zero-Emission Battery Tugs
Harland & Wolff will lead the effort to build zero-emission battery-powered tugs (file photo)
Harland & Wolff is leading a new consortium that plans to develop and build a new generation of zero-emissions harbor and coastal tugs. The revived group, which was bought out of bankruptcy in 2019, called this project part of its continued business development strategy focusing on fabrication, construction, repair, and decommissioning in the maritime and offshore industries.
Harland & Wolff entered into an agreement with Macduff Shipyards located in Scotland which designs harbor and coastal service vessels as well as fishing boats. They will work with Kongsberg Maritime and Swedish energy storage company Echandia in the development of the tugs. The companies highlight their belief that there will be a significant and growing requirement for these types of vessels as the industry transitions to clean operations in the coming decade.
"As part of our ongoing commitment to fully embrace the UK National Shipbuilding Office's aims and in our drive to Net Zero, we are pleased to have put together this consortium,” said John Wood, Group Chief Executive Officer of Harland & Wolff. “Not only are these the first vessels of this type to be designed and constructed in the UK, but they also provide firm foundations for the build of various vessels requiring this type of technology in the future."
The project calls for the initial construction of two tugs that would be nearly 84 feet long with a breadth of 39 feet and a draft of approximately 16 feet. They would have a strong bollard pull capacity of 50 tonnes for vessels their size. The tugs are expected to have Azimuth stern drives and a series of modular battery banks. They are also planning to build two barges, one 295 feet in length and the other 164 feet in length, that are initially intended to move loads between Harland & Wolff’s yards, but when the barges are not full, they could transport freight for other clients.
The tug will use battery-power with a back-up generator (Harland & Wolff)
Harland & Wolff will lead the project and be the builder, while Macduff Ship Design will develop the designs. Kongsberg will contribute the propulsion for the tug and vessel control systems while Echandia will develop the battery and electrical control systems.
They plan to develop a design that combines proven battery and propulsion technologies to deliver a zero-emissions vessel that will utilize electric propulsion from stored battery power for day-to-day operations. The operations would be backed up by generators driven by biofuel for exceptional operations or when shore charging support is unavailable.
The companies note that the tug designs would be a first step to the broader requirements from other sectors to also transition to zero-emission operations. The technologies deployed in the tug project they note will be scalable to enter into the CTV and SOV markets.
The company’s historic Belfast yard is one of Europe's largest heavy engineering facilities and was acquired in October 2019 after having lapsed into bankruptcy. The new group acquired Appledore in August 2020 as an additional construction and repair site and two Scottish-based yards in 2021 which they are using for fabrication work focusing on the renewables, energy, and defense sectors. This week the company’s yard in Arnish, Scotland is delivering its largest project to date, frames for a Canadian mining company that is constructing a barge mooring system for a site in Greenland. The Belfast yard beginning in April began delivering barges, its first newly build vessels in 20 years. Harland & Wolff is also part of a consortium with Navantia UK that won a government contract that includes building three naval support ships.
India and Germany Partner to Build Conventional Submarines
Launch of fifth vessel in India's current submarine class in 2021 (Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders)
Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding designed to lead to the construction of a new class of Indian submarines. The project came as Germany’s Defense Minister visited India and the Indo-Pacific region last week following an earlier visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to India in February as they seek to build closer ties with the region.
Under the terms of the agreement signed in Mumbai, India on June 7, the two companies plan to cooperate on building the new non-nuclear submarines. TKMS will be responsible for engineering, design, and consultancy support, while Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders would undertake the construction and delivery.
The vessels would be built in India keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in Inda” initiative. TKMS noted that there would be “significant local content” for the construction. Officials noted that building the boats in India would also help to keep construction costs lower.
Officially the MoU is to explore a construction project which is still subject to an official Indian government tender process. However, it is widely believed that they have agreed to build at least four vessels jointly with media reports setting the value of the agreement at more than $5 billion.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius highlight the agreement on closer cooperation between Germany, India, and other important partners in the region during his trip to the Indo-Pacific. German Chancellor Scholz also cited the need to build closer ties between Germany and India announcing plans for new German laws to aid in the process. Pistorius said they were making process on the steps in Germany and urged Delhi to follow the model of Australia and Japan in forging stronger ties with Germany.
According to Pistorius, India has expressed interest in the delivery of six German-made submarines. "This could become a lighthouse project," said Pistorius after the meeting with his counterpart, which was also attended by representatives of the German defense industry.
TKMS highlights that it has previously worked with India building four HDW Class 209 submarines in the 1980s. The first and second of those submarines were built by the company then known as HDW in Kiel, and the third and fourth by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai. All four vessels were successfully commissioned into the Indian Navy TKMS notes and continue to serve as frontline assets in the Indian Navy’s Mumbai-based submarine fleet. The project however was mired in allegations of corruption and ended the cooperation between the two countries.
“The boats we built in the 1980s are still in service today. We are very proud of that and would be delighted to continue contributing to India’s national security in the future,” said Oliver Burkhard, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.
The new deal calls for conventional, air independent-propulsion submarines. The Indian Navy currently has 16 conventional submarines, but 11 of them are each over 20 years old. They also charter one nuclear submarine from Russia.
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in 2021 launched the fifth in a series of Scorpene submarines being built as part of the Make in India initiatives. The fourth submarine Velva was delivered to the Indian Navy in November 2020. India looks to continue to modernize its fleet adding newer technologies through the deal with Germany.
Korea and EU to Jointly Develop Large Liquid Hydrogen Cargo Tanks
Hyundai for the first time will join with Europeans in an EU-funded project to develop large hydrogen tanks (file photo)
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is joining a first-of-its-kind research project that involves both the South Korean shipbuilder and leading European institutions and they will be working on the first large-scale hydrogen cargo tanks. It is part of an agreement between the European Union and South Korea that seeks to increase participation in new technology research and coordinate the efforts.
The research project was selected by the EU’s Horizon Europe program which seeks to support the development of innovative technologies. Hyundai also highlights that it is participating through its newly launched HD European Research Center that opened in Germany.
The shipbuilder looks to expand on its experience as the world’s leading builder of large-scale gas carriers. HD highlights its accumulated design experience having won the largest number of orders for gas carriers and its current large order backlog in the sector.
Units of the South Korean company have already been working on different elements of tank design which they look to expand on in the effort for the hydrogen tank. Today, the Nor-Shipping Korean Register (KR) awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) for a new type of tank shape designed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to improve safety and productivity for various liquefied gases and fuels. The new tank shape aims to address the challenge of sloshing that impacts the transportation of liquefied gases, such as LNG. HD HHI reports it has successfully optimized the shape of the liquefied gas tank, effectively reducing the sloshing effect and enhancing stability for the vessel. They plan to expand the application of the new tanks to various liquefied gas carriers and propulsion ships.
The new research consortium involving the South Korean and European institutions looks to develop a 160,000 cubic meter liquified hydrogen cargo tank. They expect to invest a total of €10 million in the research over the next four years.
The consortium consists of a total of 14 organizations. In addition to the global classification society ABS, engineering companies such as HYDRUS and TWI, and leading institutions with recognized capabilities in design, production, performance, and risk assessment, including the Technical University of Dresden and the Technical University of Athens, will participate in this effort.
The development of the large-scale tank will play a critical role they believe as efforts continue seeking to develop hydrogen as a leading alternative energy source. The shipbuilder believes this research project can help to establish the global standards required for the development of the hydrogen ecosystem.
Independent of this new research effort, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering highlights that it also received DNV classification certification last September for a hydrogen carrier system using the Himsen engine. It plans to develop a complete hydrogen engine by 2025 to the establishment of a hydrogen ecosystem.
Cold Ocean Depths Could Help Provide Freshwater for the Middle East
States located around the Persian Gulf are seeking alternative sources of potable water and have even considered the possibility of towing icebergs from the Antarctic. The combination of intense summer humidity, a nearby abundant source of a cold sea water, and advanced cooling tower design offers the region the potential to condense massive volumes of potable water from intensely humid air.
Introduction
While the Gulf states desalinate seawater to provide potable water for their populations and recycle used potable water, they still seek alternative cost-competitive sources of potable water. One option would involve carrying potable water inside tanker ships, including water from icebergs at the Antarctic. An alternative option would involve extract potable from humid summer air in the region, using an abundance of cold seawater.
Summer air temperatures in the eastern region of Oman often exceed 90 degrees F with humidity reaching 80 percent. Extracting potable water from the humid air on a massive scale would require the construction of several super-size cooling towers along the coast of Oman. The upper levels of each tower could be heated by concentrated reflected solar thermal energy, sufficient to produce powerful updrafts of air inside each tower. The intensely humid air would flow through an array of large radiators cooled by cold seawater flowing through the cooling passages, using seawater sourced from the Gulf of Oman.
Depth and Temperature
Solar thermal energy warms surface seawater to a depth of around 200-feet. During the northern summer when surface seawater temperature in the Gulf of Oman approaches 86 degrees F, seawater temperature at greater than 2000-feet below surface would remain around 40 degrees F. The Gulf of Oman lies in the northwestern region of the Arabian Sea, which is well in excess of 6,000-feet deep.
The sheer size and depth of the Arabian Sea provides an abundance of cold seawater that could be used productively on coastal land at Oman, depending on permission from the government of Oman. It would be possible to extract seawater from over 2,000-feet of depth and flow the cold seawater through an array of large radiators before returning the seawater to the ocean near the surface.
Water from Air
Water extraction from moist air is common at smaller scales. Fog fences are used in many mountainous locations internationally, to collect water from humid air. Modern dehumidifiers (based on refrigeration technology) are used to extract water from humid air found inside homes and offices, delivering up to 60 gallons of water per day.
While the technology has been proven at small scale, there is scope to explore mega-scale versions of the technology using precedents developed in the power industry and marine transportation sector. The early steam ships carried onboard condensers that were cooled by surface seawater to condense engine exhaust steam back into water that could then be pumped under pressure into the boilers. Large-scale condensing technology is also well-proven in coal-fired power stations.
Cooling Towers
During the 1980s, research at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town, South Africa focused on the development and construction of the largest air-cooled cooling towers for coal-fired thermal power stations. The research of Professor Kroger also focused on the possibility of using concentrated reflected solar thermal energy to heat the upper levels of the super-sized towers, to generate a powerful updraft that would pull air through a circular array of wind turbines around the base of the tower.
Further research would focus on replacing the wind turbines with large radiators that would be cooled by cold seawater. After passing through an outer array of cold radiators that remove humidity from air, the drier air would pass through an inner array of radiators at the same elevation, that are heated indirectly using solar thermal energy. The warmer and drier air would them flow into the solar heated tower. Installing an air turbine at the tower outlet would represent an alternative to a solar heated tower.
Further research would establish the daily volume of potentially potable water that the installation would produce and also determine the cost-competitiveness of mega-scale water-from-air extraction compared to carrying potable water by tanker ship from very distant locations, like the Antarctic region.
Precedents
There are precedents from coastal cities such as Sydney, Australia and Toronto, Canada where cold water from great depth sustains district cooling of buildings during hot summer months. Using cold seawater reduces electrical consumption required to sustain operation of roof-mounted, air-cooled air conditioners in groups of large buildings. While Toronto pulls in cold water from near the bottom of Lake Ontario, Sydney pulls in cold seawater from great depth in the Tasman Sea. There is scope to adapt the proven approach at other coastal locations where cold deep seawater is available near a coastline.
There is over 100 miles of coastline extending southeast from the City of Muscat, Oman that is within close proximity to the region of deep seawater in the Gulf of Oman. While there are several beaches and camping grounds along that coastline, there may be some vacant land where the construction of large towers could be possible. The deep seawater at over 6,000 feet of depth is much closer to the coast of southeast Oman than to the coasts of Pakistan or Iran.
Persian Gulf water temperature would be too warm to operate large-scale water-from-air technology. Over the long term, Gulf states will need to look elsewhere for potable water and might consider future discussions with the government of Oman about operating large-scale water-from-air installations during the summer. It may be possible for potable water from large-scale water-from-air technology to be cost competitive with water imported from far distant locations.
Conclusions
The Gulf States need competitively-priced potable water for their populations. While desalination has been the main source of water, some Gulf States have considered importing tanker ship loads of potable water from far outside of the region. The combination of abundant cold seawater near Oman, intense summer humidity in the region and mega-scale tower technology offers the possibility of large-scale extraction of water from humid air. While the concept is technically possible, future research would be able to determine its long-term feasibility and the volume of potable water each installation would produce.
The close geographic proximity between Oman and the Gulf States of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah allows for short-sea shipping of water, should the Government of Oman allow for construction of mega-scale water-from-air extraction on their territory. In some Middle Eastern regions, the cost of potable water often exceeds the cost of the identical volume of gasoline. The region seems committed to making greater future use of renewable energy, allowing for the combination of solar thermal energy and cold deep seawater to produce potable water for human consumption across the region.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
Cameron Livingstone MNI is the secretary of the 
