News / Shipper biofuel insetting helps finance Hapag-Lloyd retrofits

Photo: © Katrin May | Dreamstime.com

“More and more” of Hapag-Lloyd’s shipper customers are assisting the line’s retrofit campaign by participating in biofuel insetting programme Ship Green.

In times past, shipping lines have simply scrapped and renewed their fleets with greener vessels; but this is proving a challenge in the current market, with shipyards full and owners unlikely to see newly ordered vessels delivered before 2028.

This has spurred Hapag-Lloyd to embark on a campaign of retrofitting its existing fleet, including converting five vessels to methanol.

In conversation with The Loadstar at the SMM trade show in Hamburg this week, Capt Silke Lehmkoester, Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet manager and a veteran seafarer, explained that an increasing number of shippers were now willing to pay a premium to offset their cargo.

“This is a great turnaround… on the customer side,” she said. “We are very happy to see our customers booking this add-on more and more.”

Through contributions to the Ship Green insetting programme, Hapag-Lloyd is better able to finance retrofits such as remodelled bulbous bows and more-efficient propellers, permanently improving efficiency.

“If we had to pay for the complete biofuel, there would be less money in the pot. But by having more cash available, we can invest in retrofits, and this is the pay-off.”

Having equipment better-suited to the modern market is reaping dividends in terms of reducing fuel costs, said Capt Lehmkoester, as new and more complex environmental regulation takes hold.

“A vessel built in 2005 had one maxim – it must go fast. Nowadays it must be environmentally friendly, and this is not fast. We are looking very much into slow-steaming, which, frankly, is one of the easiest things to do.

“Of course, the hull is not getting wider or shorter – but we must turn every screw we have, at every point in time. But if we come to a point in 20 years, perhaps a hull will look completely different again.”

Container lines will also come under pressure in less than four months, when FuelEU Maritime enters force in European waters in January. Hamburg-based OceanScore, an emissions data analyst, estimates container lines could be hit with a bill of $231,000 per ship – with other segments, such as ro-ro, facing even greater costs.

However, there are signs that it may be becoming increasingly difficult to pursue Hapag’s retrofit strategy, Capt Lehmkoester said. “We are not the only company that is looking into retrofits… slots are not easy to get.

“Our vessels are there to transport cargo first, so we really have to make sure we don’t take out the vessel at an inconvenient time, matching the retrofit with an in-water survey or drydocking.

“With the disruption of past years, on-time delivery is sometimes not as easy as it used to be.”