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marine diesel oil (MDO), or macro‐economic, i.e.
approaches dealing with the global fleet and total
effectofmarinefuelconsumptiontotheenvironment.
However, there is no study, to the best of the
knowledgeoftheauthors,examiningthetimeseries
ofthepricesoftherelatedfuels.Alizadeh
et.al.(2004)
examinedthecorrelationofRotterdam,Houstonand
Singapore bunker prices time‐series vis‐à‐vis the
prices of future contracts traded at the New York
MercantileExchange(NYMEX)andtheInternational
PetroleumExchange(IPE)inLondon;furtherworkon
this subject is not reported. Should the statistical
characteristicsofthetimeseriesbeknownthenbetter
forecasting and explanatory models can be derived.
This paper aims to offer some basic analysis of the
time series of HS‐HFO and LS‐HFO in Rotterdam,
discusstheresultsoftheanalysisandfinallydiscuss
some possible steps for further research.
It is out of
the scope of this paper to analyze the political and
economic factors that determine the prices, but
scientificallyanalyzetherelatedtime‐series.
The following section presents the value of
accurateoratleastreliableandtrustworthystatistical
attributesoffueloilpricetimeseriesfor
thesupport
oftechnical,operationalandfinancialdecisionsatthe
micro‐level. In the next session, the analyses of the
HS‐andLS‐HFOpricesinRotterdamaswellasofthe
derivedtimeseriesofthedifferencebetweenHS‐and
LS‐HFO are presented. In the last section the
conclusions
are summarized and suggestions for
furtherresearcharepresented.
2 THEIMPACTOFFUELPRICES
Although different ship types and propulsion plant
configurations suggest different cost structures, it is
commonknowledgethatfuelcostsdeterminealarge
percentage of the overall cost, and therefore the
financial performance of this asset.
The compliance
withreducedsulfurlimitscanbeachievedviavarious
instruments, however two major and most feasible
instruments are practically available to operators: a
dualfuelsystemandanexhaustgascleaningsystem
(EGCS),i.e.ascrubberorsimilartechnology.Thedual
fuelsystemimpliesa switchfromregularfuel
toLS
fueloilinECAs.Withtheinstallationofscrubbersitis
notnecessarytooperatewithmorethanonefuel:HS
fueloilscanbeused,theexhaustsarethencleanedby
thescrubbersinordertoreducetheemissionofsulfur
into the air. Other sulfur abatement
instruments are
also in discussion, but do not seem to be
implementable within the next couple of years, as
there are many unsolved questions regarding their
usage.
Oneofthosealternativesisthevesselpropulsion
via liquefied natural gas (LNG). Implementing this
technology makes costly retrofitting of the vessel
necessary.A
furtheraspect,whichhastobetakeninto
account,istheavailabilityofLNGbunkeringfacilities
inports.Recentpolicyinitiatives,includeaproposed
European Directive, where the Commission
introduces an obligation for all the major European
seaports to be equipped by 2020 with publicly
accessible LNG refueling points for
both maritime
andinlandwaterwaytransport(EC,2013).Addingto
thepolicycontroversyoverairemissionissues,ESPO
doubts, whether imposing LNG refueling
infrastructure in all the major European would be
appropriate,sincetheremaynotbeamarketforitin
allofthoseports,whereastherecouldbea
marketin
other,non‐coreports,aswellasalternativesolutions
to the development of LNG are and will become
increasinglyavailableinthenearfuture(ESPO,2013).
Generallyspeaking,intheshorttermtheavailability
of LNG bunkering facilities globally cannot be
guaranteed and thus this option is intentionally
neglectedinthisanalysis.
Thusthissectionwillcover
two alternatives that seem to be available in short
termin detail: the dualfuel system and the exhaust
gasscrubbertechnology.
Assuming the following data for a typical
containervessel:
1 OperatingSpeeds
ECOSpeed:16.5kn
DesignSpeed:18.5kn
MaximumSpeed:21kn
2 FuelTypesconsumed
IFO380
MDO
3 OperationalData
Steaming@ECOSpeed16.5kn(days/year):50
Steaming @DesignSpeed 18.5 kn(days/year):
140
Steaming@MaximumSpeed21kn(days/year):
20
Port/IdleTime(days/year): 150
Timenotusedforoperation(days/year):5
Estimated Annual Operation in ECAs
(days/year):80
4 MainEngine
MCR(kW):16,000
TypeofFuel:IFO380
FuelConsumption(t/yr):7,939
5 AuxiliaryEngine
No.ofMachineryofthisType:4
MCR(kW):1,600
TotalkWAuxiliaryEngine:6,400
SpecificFuelOilConsumption(g/kWh):180
TypeofFuel:MDO
FuelConsumption(t/yr):1,459
6 Boiler
No.ofMachineryofthisType:1
FuelOilConsumption(t/day):25
TypeofFuel:MDO
FuelConsumption(t/yr):1,664
Obviously the consumption data can be
thoroughly evaluated, and the calculations above
yieldtheproductofthedailyconsumptiontimesthe
timeofoperationatvarious‘expected’levelsofload.
Giventhat the consumptiondataaboveare accurate
enough to support further estimation of the cost,
operators face the following dilemma: they should
either install a scrubber (generally a EGCS) or to
install/useadualfuelsystem.Thecriticalparameters
that determine the decision are the price of HSHFO
and LSHFO, the time (days/year) of expected
operationinanECAandtherequiredinvestmentfor
EGCS. In
few words, operators have the option to
installanEGCSandconsumethecheaperHSHFOin
all operating cases or to use HSHFO and LSHFO
whereverpermittedorrequired.Thedifferenceofthe
discountedcoststreamswilldetermine,whichoption