“Future proofing”

Technology group Wärtsilä says it is to supply its latest carbon capture and storage (CCS)-ready scrubber systems for three container ships owned by German operator Leonhardt & Blumberg. The 3600 TEU vessels will each be fitted with a CCS-Ready, Vessel General Permit (VGP)-compliant, 27.5 MW system.

According to the manufacturer, the CCS-ready solution will assure Leonhardt & Blumberg that it has continued regulatory compliance for SOx emissions today and opens the door to a smooth CCS system adoption in the future. Following a number of newbuild orders for CCS-ready scrubbers, this will be one of the first retrofit projects prepared for CCS in the marine industry. The order was booked by Wärtsilä in Q3 2024.

The Wärtsilä solution significantly reduces a vessel’s operational expenses by enabling it to operate with less costly and more readily available fuel (HFO). At the same time, it significantly reduces the ship’s carbon footprint in line with the industry’s decarbonisation targets.

“We are working hard to operate our fleet in the most sustainable way possible,” says Tim Goettsche, Fleetmanager, Leonhardt & Blumberg. “This retrofit project with Wärtsilä’s advanced exhaust treatment system represents an exciting step forward in reducing GHG emissions with CCS technology. It will give our ships a head-start in being compliant with future regulatory requirements.”

Wärtsilä says it calls these scrubbers “CCS-ready” because, as part of their installation, it will perform additional design and engineering work to ensure that future retrofits for a full CCS system on the vessels are accounted for.

It adds: “An integrated CCS system, working in harmony with a scrubber system, is based on the principle of removing as many main pollutants from the exhaust as possible, tackling each pollutant in a modular fashion. Once other gases are removed, the remaining exhaust can then be scrubbed for carbon which can be safely stored onboard and disposed of on arrival at port.”