"LNG as Ship Fuel: the Reasons of a Choice" - 18° International Conference on Ships NAV 2015 - ISBN 9788894055719 - Ernesto Fasano

The consciousness on environmental issue, the stricter emission requirements and the flotation of fuel price are pushing owners to consider alternative solutions to conventional oil fuel. In Northern Europe, where air emission regulations are already effective, a large amount of new building gas fuelled ships have been delivered over the last decade and some ships have been also refitted, considering that Marpol regulation apply for both new and existing ships. Taking into account the expected enlargement of emission control areas, the social pressure for environmental preservation and the perspective of large amount of methane availability, the paper resumes the reasons for the use of gas as fuel for ships. According to IMO draft 2014 at moment available and rules/guidelines of some classification societies, a case study is also presented, where particular attention is dedicated to LNG tank dimensions and location, being one of the major impact design factor concerning simultaneously safety, range and ship stability.