Orders for vessels with dual-fuel engines increasing

As prices of low-sulfur fuel oil touched an all-time high recently, the demand and orders for dual-fuel vessel has been increasing.

Most of the shipowners are opting for LNG-powered ships in order to meet environmental regulations.

The three major South Korean shipbuilders received orders for 154 vessels, and those include 68 ships in which LNG or methanol can be used as an alternative fuel.

Specifically, the figure is 30 out of 111 in Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, 24 out of 24 in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and 14 out of 19 in Samsung Heavy Industries.

Moreover, most of the single-fuel vessels are supposed to be equipped with a scrubber for SOx reduction or can be altered to use LNG, ammonia or hydrogen as a fuel.

According to Clarksons Research, the ratio of alternative fuel vessel orders, which was 32.7 percent in 2021, is increasing fast and the ratio of such vessels in operation increased from 2.2 percent to 3.9 percent from 2017 to 2021, reached 4.5 percent recently, and is expected to top 5 percent in 2022.