NEWS
May 01, 2026
Lloyd's List feat. Costas Delaportas: Will alternative fuels ever work for dry bulk?
Will alternative fuels ever work for dry bulk?
Lloyd's list article: https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1153338/Will-alternative-fuels-ever-work-for-dry-bulk
- Disparate trade routes make dry bulk’s ability to access new fuels harder
- Biofuels and carbon capture likely the sector’s solution in the medium term
- Slow steaming and energy-saving devices can take the sector far, owners say
by Joshua Minchin
SLOW STEAMING, DIGITALISATION, ENERGY-SAVING DEVICES AND CARBONCAPTURE MAY ALL BE IMPLEMENTED BY THE DRY BULK SECTOR AHEAD OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS.
Dry bulk’s tramp DNA means securing future fuels is a tougher task than for other sectors, but some questionwhether they will even be needed
DECARBONISATION has assumed an explicit financial importance following the International Maritime Organization’s net zero framework agreed at the 83rd meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.
Bulk carrier owners and operators now have some numbers to put against their vessels and begin working just how much non-compliance is going to cost them.
Alternative fuels, such as ammonia or methanol, have long been heralded as the saviours of the shipping industry.
But the price and availability of these zero-carbon fuels means they pose more questions than answers at this particular point in time, with some asking whether they’re even worth the investment at all.
Dry bulk’s tramp shipping DNA means these issues are even more acute. A containership, by and large, makes the same calls repeatedly, meaning carriers and bunker suppliers can plan to have a fuel available along the loop as required. But that’s not the case for bulkers.
Drydel Shipping chief executive Costas Delaportas said making investment decisions on future fuels was “very difficult” for bulk, due to the remote nature of which some of the ports bulkers call.
Delaportas said for smaller-sized vessels in particular, finding conventional fuel could be tricky in the mostremote of ports, let alone sourcing ammonia or methanol in the future.
G2 Ocean CEO Arthur English said his company didn’t see its 10 dual-fuel ready vessels burning alternativefuels until the next decade.
Nova Marine Carriers chief risk officer Bas Van Steijnen said it was one thing for bulker owners to order dual-fuel carriers, but asked the simple question of whether these fuels were available right now in enough places across the globe.
“Are they? You know, I don’t think so. I think that we can have all the best intentions, and you can haveshipping companies or whoever wanting to invest in green, but if it’s not available, it’s not available,” he said.
V.Ships group director of global commercial anddecarbonisation Jesper Bo Hansen admitted theavailability of e-fuels was “a massive issue”.
He told Lloyd’s List that many alternative fuelprojects relied on support from the former USadministration and have not been supported by thenew government.
“We probably think there’s a little bit of a setback interms of availability of alternative fuels.”
Hansen said the more likely solution for dry bulk inthe short-to-medium term would be biofuels, withenergy efficiencies offering “a leg up” to compliance before future fuels are more widely available.