Establishing design and construction standards for the use of low-flashpoint fuels (LFPF) Lloyd’s Register’s notation for gas and non-gas carriers
Leo Karistios, LR’s Global Gas Technology Market Manager commented:
With the development of gas as a marine fuel going beyond LNG, LR has developed a notation to provide clarity and to ensure technology can be adopted effectively. In the last 12 months, the industry experienced two major changes in legislation with the revised IGC Code and the adoption of the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Lowflashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). The codes have broadened the horizons for gas applications, encompassing the use of low-flashpoint fuels for gas carriers and non-gas carriers. While the legislators have paved the way for the use of these low-flashpoint fuels, it is the classification society’s role to ensure clear standards, requirements and methodology are put in place, to help ensure the required levels of safety and reliability are achieved. Chapter 16 of the revised IGC Code has made provisions for alternative fuels other than LNG. The IGF Code for the use of natural gas has been adopted and phase two for other low-flashpoint fuels such as methanol and hydrogen is agreed and progresses at IMO. LNG carriers is a sector that focuses on sizes of 150–180k cbm. However, the small-scale LNG ships market is growing fast while the large Q-Flex and Q-Max LNG carriers are fully utilised. Lloyd’s Register’s response to this developing market is through Rules and Regulations applicable to all ships using low-flashpoint fuels under an overarching notation that is clearly structured, scalable and can evolve as the industry’s knowledge matures.
“It is our duty to use all the knowledge and experience we hold as a leading classification society and support future technological developments in the gas sector. The innovation in gas carriers and non-gas carriers using gas as a marine fuel has been tremendous over the last two years. Our new class notation LFPF is Lloyd’s Register’s response to the market’s evolution. The traditional approach in developing notations based on practical experience is not always the solution and in the gas sector all stakeholders are required to anticipate what the market needs to ensure that the best commercial The Lloyd’s Register machinery decisions can be made on the basis of notation Low-Flashpoint Fuels (LFPF), has the best technical understanding. IMO been developed to respond to the industry’s has proven this twice with the revised needs, allowing owners and ship yards to IGC Code and with the development of the IGF Code. Lloyd’s Register is demonstrate that their design and construction following closely the legislative and meet the agreed requirements. Effective technological developments so that we from 1 January, 2016, in Lloyd’s Register’s Rules and Regulations, the LFPF class notation can serve the market well. Our rules and regulations are evolving at the same pace (machinery special features) was presented so that classification’s role maintains its to LR’s Technical Committee in 2015. significance in the marine and gas market sectors.” LFPF is associated with low-flashpointfuelled vessels and assigned where the main propelling and/or auxiliary machinery is designed to operate using a low-flashpoint fuel in accordance with the applicable LR Rules and Regulations. The LFPF notation is to be appended by the associated characters GC or GF and one two-letter fuel identifier, and will be entered in column 4 of the Register Book as follows: GC: Assigned to gas carriers indicating that the gas-fuelled machinery has been constructed, arranged, installed and tested in accordance with the relevant requirements of Chapter 16 of LR’s Rules for Ships for liquefied gases, or is equivalent there to. GF: Assigned to ships other than gas carriers indicating that the lowflashpoint-fuelled machinery has been constructed, arranged, installed and tested in accordance with the LR Rules and Regulations applicable to the fuel(s) used. The low-flashpoint fuel (or fuels) that the ship is designed to use is indicated in the notation using a two letter identifier: NG Natural Gas EG Ethane Gas PG Liquid Petroleum Gas ML Methanol
LNG Carrier using BOG as fuel
LFPF (GC, NG)
LPG Carrier using BOG as fuel
LFPF (GC, PG)
LPG or VLEC using LNG as fuel
LFPF (GC, NG)
LFPF (GF, NG) or LFPF (GF, ML)
LFPF (GF, NG) or LFPF (GF, ML)
LFPF (GF, NG) or LFPF (GF, ML)
Development of a new class notation pertaining to low-flashpoint fuel
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