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Vale says it has achieved a ‘major advance’ in the adoption of alternative, lower-carbon fuels for shipping after a design project to incorporate multi-fuel tanks on iron ore carriers received an Approval in Principle (AIP) from DNV.

Vale said the independent assessment performed by the class society verifies the technical feasibility of the design, and indicates that based on this system, developed in partnership with Norwegian companies Brevik Engineering AS and Passer Marine, vessels chartered by the mining company could be adapted to store fuels as LNG, methanol and ammonia in the future.

The multi-fuel tank design is part of the Ecoshipping programme, developed by Vale to adopt new technologies and renew its fleet with the aim of reducing carbon emissions from shipping. According to the mining giant, preliminary study for ships of the Guaibamax category estimates that emissions reductions can range from 40% to 80% when powered by methanol and ammonia, or up to 23% in the case of LNG.

Vale noted that dozens of second-generation VLOCs (very large ore carriers) that are currently in operation, with 400,000 and 325,000 tonnes of capacity, have been designed for future installation of an LNG system, including an under-deck compartment to receive a tank with capacity for the entire voyage.

Having received the AIP for the multi-fuel tank design, a pilot project will be developed in the coming months for the implementation of this system on a Guaibamax.

‘The multi-fuel tank system removes some of the main barriers to the adoption of alternative fuels, which include regulatory and infrastructure uncertainty in defining the optimal fuel. It is a solution for the future, but one that could also impact existing ships, many of which have more than 20 years of service life ahead of them,’ said Vale's Shipping Technical Manager, Rodrigo Bermelho. ‘Allied to other energy efficiency technologies in progress at Vale, such as rotating sails and air lubrication, it allows us to have more efficient vessels with very low carbon emissions.’

As previously reported, last year, as part of its Ecoshipping programme, Vale presented the first ore carrier equipped with rotating sails and the first Guaibamax ship with air lubrication installed.

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