My BIMCO Register

A transition still technically demanding but moving forward

Alternative fuels remain immature and infrastructure uneven, but technological momentum is real. The challenge now is aligning technical capability with regulatory certainty and investment confidence.

The global shipping industry stands at a critical juncture, facing increased pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition toward more sustainable operations. Yet the sector remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, while green alternatives such as ammonia, methanol, hydrogen and advanced biofuels are still emerging. Availability is limited, supply chains are fragmented and most ships today are not technically prepared to use them safely.

Retrofitting a ship for new fuels is not a simple upgrade but a major engineering intervention, requiring new storage arrangements, redesigned fuel-supply systems, specialised safety equipment and new operational procedures. At the same time, the global network of ports and bunkering terminals capable of supporting alternative fuels is far from ready, making immediate large-scale adoption unrealistic.

Despite these constraints, technological progress is unmistakable. Shipyards, engine manufacturers and technology providers have accelerated development efforts.

Dual-fuel engines are becoming more widely available, onboard carbon-capture solutions are moving toward pilot installations and digital performance-monitoring tools are offering far greater transparency and accuracy in fuel consumption and emissions.

Shipowners are investing in pilot projects and newbuild design pathways, while cargo owners are increasingly pushing for cleaner transport and verifiable emissions reductions.

Momentum is building, but it remains early and requires coordinated action at scale to become fully effective.

Navigating Int'l Maritime Regulatory Framework - f2f

A particularly important development is the gradual convergence of regulatory and technical frameworks.

The publication of ISO 8217:2024, incorporating updated specifications for biofuels and synthetic fuels, represents a significant step toward consistent fuel-quality standards and global comparability.

This growing alignment between the IMO’s life-cycle assessment approach (defining what is measured) and ISO standards (defining how it is measured) will be essential to reducing technical uncertainty and enabling investment confidence.

Industry readiness also presents a mixed picture. While major Asian shipyards and European engineering firms are increasingly prepared for green-design integration, supply chains and regulatory regimes for fuel infrastructure remain more cautious.

The technical capability to advance new fuels and systems is largely in place, but regulatory and economic uncertainty continue to limit large-scale implementation.

This disparity between what is technically achievable and what is commercially or logistically feasible underscores the need for clearer global signals before the transition can accelerate at scale.

Alongside fuel transitions, a diverse range of energy-efficiency technologies is maturing rapidly.

Some solutions have already moved well beyond the experimental phase. Wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS), for example, have evolved significantly since their first modern commercial applications in 2018.

Today, 64 ships are operating with wind-assist systems and another 84 are on order, backed by growing volumes of validated performance data from both providers and early adopters.

Similarly, proven efficiency technologies such as optimised propellers, energy-saving devices and digital voyage optimisation tools have demonstrated immediate, scalable results across various ship types.

Infrastructure-dependent technologies such as onshore power supply (OPS) and electric propulsion are also technically mature, but their uptake is tied to parallel investment in shore-side facilities.

Adoption remains strongest in regions like Northern Europe, where port infrastructure, regulation and public funding have created enabled early adoption.

At the same time, a new generation of emerging technologies, including onboard carbon-capture systems (OCCS), advanced hybridisation and fuel-cell concepts, is progressing through pilot phases.

These innovations hold substantial promise but are not yet ready for broad commercial deployment.

They also introduce new operational and logistical challenges, such as the management of large volumes of chemicals and system byproducts. Moving these technologies toward maturity will require cooperation across shipyards, classification societies, suppliers, infrastructure developers and regulators.

Given the uncertainty surrounding future fuel pathways, the cost and availability of zero-carbon fuels and the differing maturity levels of emergent technologies, energy-efficiency measures will remain central to both existing and future fleets.

They are the most immediate, scalable and commercially viable means of reducing emissions today and they provide a critical bridge as the industry works to develop a technically, economically and safely achievable transition to net-zero operations.

The momentum is real, but the transition is still in an early stage and needs coordination at scale.

- Efi Tsolaki

Given the cost, energy efficiency and availability differences between zero-carbon fuels and conventional fuels, energy-efficiency technologies will remain essential for both existing and future fleets.

- Carola Yannouli

Technical capability exists, but regulatory and economic uncertainty remain barriers to large-scale implementation.

- Anna Apostolopoulou

Technical Reality

Alternative fuels remain limited in availability and unevenly distributed

Retrofitting requires major engineering intervention, not incremental change

Port and bunkering infrastructure is not yet ready for scale

Momentum is building: Where progress is tangible

Dual-fuel engines entering mainstream

Energy-efficiency technologies delivering immediate gains

Digital performance monitoring enabling transparency

ISO 8217:2024 supporting fuel standardisation

Commercial navigation: strategy, timing and managing uncertainty

Back to Introduction Next chapter