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Over the last few years, the marine industry has begun to embrace increased digitalization and automation to improve the efficiency of its operations through improved communication, information exchange, analytics, monitoring, and analysis. But this increased interconnectivity also brings with its associated cyber threats. Marine industry owners and operators need to be aware of the proper techniques to assess their risks and mitigate them.

To gain some insight, Marine Log spoke with Elisa Cassi, Lloyd’s Register’s Product Manager for Cyber Security for Marine & Offshore Business. We spoke with Cassi about the state of maritime cyber security and what companies should be doing to mitigate cyber threats.

Now more than ever, vessel operators and charterers are leveraging smart technology and data analytics to reveal operational efficiencies, comply with environmental regulations, and better their bottom lines. This is nothing new to customers of Fueltrax. More than a decade ago, Fueltrax began as a project to help Kirby Inland Marine more accurately measure fuel consumption to improve the efficiency of their vessels. Today, Fueltrax is the leading fuel management solution, installed on over 500 vessels operating worldwide —ranging from small inland tugs to offshore supply vessels to oceangoing tankers.

Marine Log had an opportunity at the recent International Workboat Show to sit down with Anthony George, Founder and CEO of Fueltrax, to discuss how the Fueltrax fuel management system works, what its benefits are to operators, and how he sees the product developing to optimize vessel performance.

Investment decisions will loom large over shipowners over the next 14 months or so as they scramble to comply with the IMO 2020 Sulfur Cap, which comes into force on January 1, 2020. The regulation dictates the use of 0.5% sulfur compliant fuel or abatement technologies, such as exhaust gas cleaning systems or burning alternative fuels such as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Shipowners will have to decide well in advance of what their investment strategy is going to be. The clock is ticking.

In late October 2018, the 73rd session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee adopted amendments to MARPOL Annex VI to prohibit not just the use, but also carriage of bunkers above 0.5% sulfur on ships (unless they have approved abatement technology onboard). They are set to take effect March 1, 2020.

At a series of customer seminars taking place at SMM 2018 trade show held in early September 2018 in Hamburg, Germany, Total Lubmarine and Marine Fuels emphasized that whatever choice shipowners make for compliance, Total has both a fuel and lubricant solution.

Marine Log spoke with Jean-Philippe Roman, Technical Director at Total Lubmarine, and Total Lubmarine Global Marketing Manager Serge Dal Farra about how they are supporting their customers. These customer services include the onboard equipment, laboratory services, drain oil analysis and advisory services provided by the global Total Lubmarine team.

“When it comes to 2020 and fuel choice, there is no single right solution,” says Dal Farra. “However, we would recommend that any ship operator works closely with a trusted bunker supplier. Total is an integrated group which provides expertise and assets in refining, trading, LNG, bunkers and of course lubricants.”

Lubricant choice goes hand-in-hand with fuel choice, and low and zero sulfur fuels bring with them their own lubrication challenges. Total Lubmarine believes that low ash chemistry will be the basis for the next generation of engine oils, particularly for dual-fuel engines or those diesel engines fitted with selective catalytic reduction systems. Total Lubmarine is currently also developing new lube oils designed to help reduce CO2 emissions.

On the lubricant side, Total Lubmarine has received two No Objection Letters (NOL) from MAN Energy Solutions – in recognition of the effectiveness of two of its products.

The first NOL recognizes the excellent performance of cylinder oils TALUSIA HR 140, and approves it for use in MAN engines. TALUSIA HR 140 – which has a higher BN (base number) than most of its market counterparts – offers Total Lubmarine’s best solution for engines subject to severe corrosion. Designed for slow speed engines running on High Sulfur Fuel Oil (HSFO), TALUSIA HR 140 has high acid neutralization capacity, ensuring excellent cylinder protection.

Its high BN has been created in order to maintain cylinder protection over long periods of high sulfur residual fuel usage, preventing corrosion resulting from sulfuric acid formation. This prevents cylinder wear and scuffing, and can extend the length of time between engine overhauls.

The second NOL allows for the combined use of Total Lubmarine’s TALUSIA HR 140 and TALUSIA LS 25 lubricants in MAN’s Automated Cylinder Oil Mixing (ACOM) system. The MAN ACOM system is an onboard cylinder oil-blending unit designed to simplify the lubrication aspect of fuel switching – allowing vessels to use scrubbers or MAN GI or LGI type engines using LNG or fuel mixtures.

TALUSIA LS 25 has been specially formulated for reliable operations with emission control area (ECA) compliant ultra low sulfur fuels – providing excellent cleanliness and outstanding deposit control for slow speed engines. Thanks to its low-ash content, engines using TALUSIA LS 25 are protected against deposit formation, which can lead to scuffing issues. It has been approved by MAN Energy Solutions for standalone use.

For shipowners, the clock is ticking on one of the shipping industry’s most significant air emission regulations. The IMO 2020 Global Sulfur Cap, due to take effect January 1, 2020, will mandate that shipowners burn 0.5% sulfur fuel to comply or use other means such as exhaust gas cleaning systems — so-called scrubbers — if they want to burn heavy fuel oil or operate their ships with dual fuel engines that can burn Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or another alternative fuel.

All ships that operate outside current Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) will be required to use fuel oil with a maximum sulfur content of 0.5% while vessels operating within ECAs will be required to use fuel oil with a maximum sulfur content of 0.10%. Currently, there are ECAs in North America and the U.S. Caribbean, Baltic and North Seas, and along certain parts of the coast of China.

To get some insight into the widespread ramifications of the IMO 2020 Sulfur Cap, we spoke with Kirsi Tikka, the well-respected ABS Executive Vice President and Senior Maritime Advisor, Global Marine. Tikka spoke with us about the advantages and disadvantages of each of the compliance options, as well as future IMO regulations regarding the reduction of CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases.

Being a marine salvor has never been an easy job. As a first responder, you are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 weeks a year. Now it’s even more complex, with the influx of larger and larger ships, which pose their own particular technical challenges, expanding ship operations in the polar regions, and ongoing regulatory and legal challenges brought on by environmental incidents. We sat down with Mauricio Garrido, President of T&T Salvage, who has decades of experience in maritime salvage to get the inside scoop.

Radio Holland is certainly a well known name in the maritime industry with a history that stretches back more than 100 years. However, just as the marine industry is undergoing a transformation driven by increasing automation and digitalization, so, too is Radio Holland undergone a number of changes.

Marine Log recently sat down with Erik Van der Noordaa, CEO of the RH Marine Group, and Fergus Campbell, Director of Services, North America, Radio Holland USA, at SMM 2018 in Hamburg to discuss those changes, as well as the company’s Global Service Network, its latest innovations in service calls, class surveys, and remote monitoring, as well as its ability to support the cruise industry with turnkey solutions for bridge upgrades under strict deadlines.