Industry representatives and DNV GL experts came together for the technical forum of the Society of Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) on the vessel MS Helgoland this week, the first LNG fuelled vessel built in Germany.
SGMF also held its spring technical committee meeting at the DNV GL maritime headquarters in Hamburg. SGMF has been established as a framework organization within which both best practice and creative solutions can be reviewed and developed. The Society’s goal is to develop and produce definitive guidelines so that the process of using gas as a marine fuel can be undertaken safely worldwide. Today, SGMF has more than 100 members from the industry related to LNG as a ship fuel (www.sgmf.info).
The technical committee discussed the progress and decided about the way forward for the work running within the SGMF working groups which are related to e.g. safety, environment and operational competence. The new SGMF guidance on “LNG Bunkering: Competence and Training” where presented and are now published.
More than 30 members participated in the SGMF forum on board the MS Helgoland. The presentations and discussions in the forum covered the most recent developments in engine, gas supply technology and commercial as well as operational aspects of LNG as a fuel. Especially the tour guided by Claus Hirsch from AG EMS to the power supply system (Wärtsila DF main engines) and the LNG supply system (Wärtsilä LNGPac) was appreciated by the participants. The “MS Helgoland” is the first newbuilding running on LNG and built in Germany (by Fassmer yard in Berne). The ferry is operating on a daily basis between the island of Helgoland and the port of Cuxhaven.