Commercial ships resupplying the remote communities of Canada’s Eastern Arctic face multiple logistical challenges along the way. This year, COVID-19 and the threat it posed to both the ships’ crews and northern communities was another challenge they had to deal with.
“We must remember the premise of using chemical oil dispersants: Diluting the oil from a surface slick into the water column at sea to reduce its concentration to below toxic levels, enhance its degradation rate, and reduce its probability of reaching shore.” – Kenneth Lee
Efforts to reduce emissions from ships – including stricter regulations about marine fuels’ allowable level of sulphur – are curbing the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the marine shipping industry.
Fuel lifecycle climate warming impact. When comparing the CO2-equivalent emissions of different fuels per 1 tonne of cargo transported 1 km by ship, the climate warming of LNG exceeds that of heavy fuel oil when the amount of methane slip from LNG use is greater than approximately 1% of the volume of LNG.
LNG & Marine Shipping: LNG ships are made with many safety features. These include insulated tanks and double hulls. The LNG tanks can be rectangular or round, spherical in modern LNG carriers.
The lifecycle of LNG involves extraction from the ground, removal of impurities and gases and then it is shipped through a pipeline to a liquefaction facility and stored in an LNG tank for shipping. It’s processed upon arrival.
Learn more about LNG and marine shipping in Canadian waters. Discover the role of LNG in reducing commercial marine shipping’s contribution to world air pollution and measures to support the safe transport and use of LNG by ships.
Marine shipping contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in Canada. Learn more from Clear Seas.
Double hulls are a preventive measure implemented to reduce the risk of ship-source pollution in the marine environment.
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