The number of ships fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to more than double by 2030, driven by the shipping industry’s desire to cut emissions, a senior executive at Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said on Wednesday.
Currently, less than 400 out of a total of more than 80,000 registered ships, run on LNG as fuel source. This number could increase to 1,000 vessels globally by 2030, said Mohd Rafe Mohamed Ramli, head of global LNG bunkering at Petronas Marine.
The shipping industry has been under pressure to reduce carbon emissions, after also introducing new rules this year to cut the sulphur content in marine fuels, also know as bunker fuels. This in turn is prompting demand for LNG as a bunker fuel by tanker operators and cruise liners.
