Asleep at the helm

Policies to control emissions should push merchants to use liquified natural gas as a fuel. Delaying the switch will cost them

­­­­­EUROPE's shipowners may be caught off guard if they don't invest in LNG-fuelled vessels now to avoid higher distillate fuel prices and ensure they comply with upcoming environmental regulations. "I think everybody concurs by now that LNG is the future marine fuel," Michael Shaap, general manager of Titan LNG told the LNG Fuels Summit in Amsterdam. "There are environmental and safety regulations which we have to take into account and looking ahead there's a big debate on future prices. The marine industry needs to prepare for change." Yet Europe's nascent LNG-bunkering industry has been paralysed by uncertainty about fuel prices, a lack of access to capital and an uncertain timeline for