Angelicoussis Shipping Group Ltd, headquartered in Athens, is a leading Greek ship owner operating in the dry bulk (Anangel Maritime Services) and gas carrier (Maran Gas Maritime) markets and also manages a tanker fleet – Kristen Navigation Inc.
This makes Angelicoussis one of the largest shipping groups in Greece. “Our tanker fleet is composed of Aframaxes and upwards in size – some 60 to 70 per cent of our 50-vessel strong fleet are VLCCs. Our LNG order book is the biggest around. The average age of our fleet is 6.5 years,” says the managing director of Kristen Navigation Inc, Stavros Hatzigrigoris. Kristen Navigation’s management tasks include every element of shipping: operations, technical management, manning, purchasing, accounting and related services, including how to expand the operations. To achieve this, the focus is on having employees with a balance between experience and education – both seagoing officers and university graduates. 60 per cent of the tanker fleet are on bareboat charters, and four of the five LNG vessels are chartered by Rasgas, with the fifth vessel chartered to Gas de France for four years. Kristen Navigation has a newbuilding programme with 14 ships due for delivery in 2009 and 2010. These vessels have above standard specifications. However, this highly successful company also has an extensive environmental commitment, and in this issue of Tanker Update we have chosen to focus on this, based on a report given to us by Sokratis Dimakopoulos, the HSQE manager. “The environment,” says Stavros Hatzigrigoris, “is very important. At the end of the day, someone will have to clean up – and we have started a programme to achieve short- and long-term goals. The environment is a topic which is not going to go away! At Kristen Navigation we will not just be implementing what is needed. We will be a leader in this field.”
Safe Ships – Clean Seas –
Commercial Efficiency
Kristen Navigation has produced a comprehensive document called Safe Ships – Clean Seas – Commercial Efficiency. the mission statement is to achieve continuous improvement: “Environmental excellence requires processes to check, evaluate and feed back information on the progress and achievements in order to achieve sustainable improvement. Air emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulates and non-methane hydrocarbons, are known to contribute to global warming, acid rain and rising levels of ground ozone, affecting ecosystems and human health. It is estimated that shipping accounts for 2% of the CO2, 4% of the SOx and 7% of the worldwide emissions while carrying 90% of international goods.”
Kristen Navigation’s response to this is: Kristen Navigation Inc believes that although shipping is by far the most fuel-efficient mode of transport, nevertheless action has to be taken to reduce air pollution. This will only be possible if the Company is committed to improving the energy efficiency of all ship-related operations. The objective evidence of Kristen navigation’s commitment and of our proactive approach to protecting the environment is described in this trendsetting document on the environment and as such this is the most comprehensive report and position paper issued so far by any ship owner.
Kristen Navigation monitors the environmental impact of the fleet’s operations on a regular basis using the Transport Energy Efficiency Index (expressed as grams HFO/tonne per nautical mile) as well as the CO2 index (grams CO2/tonne per nautical mile). The results will be used for benchmarking purposes as well as to identify cases where corrective action has to be taken to improve environmental performance. In a study called “Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Shipping and Implementation of the Marine Sulphur Directive”, the average CO2 index value for crude oil tankers with an average gross tonnage of 57 703 was 8.0 grams CO2/ tonne nautical mile. The Kristen Aframax fleet average CO2 index value is 7.64 grams CO2/tonnes nautical mile, 4.5% less than the industry-reported value.
Electronically controlled main engines
Other actions taken by Kristen
Navigation are the installation of electronically controlled main engines, which reduce the part-load fuel consumption and lead to lower emissions, such as NOx exhaust emissions which are below the IMO limits.
Propeller polishing
Propeller polishing has been estimated to increase the propeller’s operational efficiency by 2–4%, resulting in significant improvements in fuel economy and thus reduced air emissions. A policy of polishing the propellers on all managed VLCCs on a regular six-month basis has been introduced.
NOx emissions
Slide fuel valves developed by MAN B&W have been installed on the company’s newbuildings since 2003 and MAN B&W retrofitted slide valves prior to 2003. Slide valves are a type of fuel injection valve designed to reduce the volume of fuel remaining in the fuel injection nozzle when the valve is closed – thereby avoiding high temperature peaks and reducing the generation of NOx.
Particulate (PM) emissions
PM emissions in the exhaust gas may originate from a number of sources, such as the agglomeration of very small particles of partly burned fuel or lube oil, the ash content of fuel or cylinder lube oil, sulphates or water. Kristen Navigation’s share of shipping-generated PM emissions is estimated to be 0.19% of a total of 1.8 million tonnes. Slide fuel valves will optimise fuel combustion thus reducing the PM emissions.
Alpha lubricator
Also developed by MAN B&W, this is a high-pressure electronically controlled lubrication system aimed at reducing the cylinder lube oil dosage while maintaining a satisfactory piston ring/liner wear rate and maintaining or increasing the time between overhauls. The fleet average specific cylinder oil consumption has decreased since the introduction of the Alpha lubricator in 2004.
SOx and sulphur emissions
Low sulphur marine fuels (LSFOs) are used when the fleet enters Sulphur Emissions Control Areas, such as the Baltic and North Sea and other SOx-controlled areas. In addition, by carrying out independent fuel oil analysis, the aim is to ensure compliance with the international and national sulphur limits. The Kristen Navigation study showed that the sulphur content in fuel supplied by SUNOCO had the best performance with the least sulphur content emissions, followed by that supplied by Hanjin and ChevronRefrigerant gases emissions.
The global warming potential of Hydrochlorofluocarbons (HCFCs) and Hydrofluocarbons (HFCs) is closely monitored with a view to minimising the release of these substances to the atmosphere. All fleet vessels are supplied with refrigerant recovery units. A quantifiable goal is to reduce the fleet’s consumption of refrigerant gases by 5% in 2008.
Energy audits
These have been carried out and their main objectives are to identify energy-
saving opportunities and assess their technical and economic feasibility, set up energy conservation programmes for existing vessels, develop design considerations to achieve higher energy efficiency for newbuildings and establish best practices for onboard energy management to be implemented by the crew during their day-to-day working life.
Research projects
Kristen Navigation is one of the partners of the EU-funded Integrated R&D project HERCULES, which was set up with the objective of designing cleaner and more energy efficient marine engines by developing and testing new technologies to reduce emissions from marine engines and increase engine efficiency and reliability, thereby reducing fuel consumption, CO2 emissions end engine lifecycle costs.
Ship recycling
The company will only use recycling facilities that have made demonstrable advances in terms of safety and environmental management requirements in accordance with IMO guidelines.
In addition, a Green Passport will be provided – this provides an inventory of the potentially hazardous materials on board. This accompanies the ship throughout its operating life. Successive owners of the ship should maintain the accuracy of the Green Passport and incorporate it into all relevant design and equipment changes. The final owner should deliver the document with the ship to the recycling facility.