Bulkers have been slow to adopt green technology with less than 0.1% of the current fleet powered by alternative fuels, says Clarksons.

The global bulker fleet current stands at around 12,344 vessels of a combined 505.6m gross tons, some 35% of total shipping tonnage.

In deadweight terms, the bulker sector’s 915.8m-dwt represents an even more significant 43% of global capacity, according to the UK shipbroker.

There are just seven alternative fuelled bulkers in the fleet of which five are LNG capable against 0.8% of capacity for containerships and 0.4% for tankers.

However, Clarksons said 4.5% of bulker tonnage, some 13 ships, on order are now LNG-capable versus 25% for containerships and 13% for tankers.

The increase in bulkers using alternative fuels was helped by the ordering of seven LNG-capable capesize units ordered in the fourth quarter of 2020, backed by charters from BHP and Anglo American.

“With such a large fleet and notably diverse trading patterns, it is perhaps little surprise that the bulker sector has been somewhat slower to adopt new ‘green’ technologies than other parts of the industry,” Clarksons said.

“However, in some areas, the bulker fleet has seen comparable progress to other sectors, and recently, signs of an uptick in technology uptake have been seen.”

Bulkers reportedly produced an estimated 160m tonnes of CO2 last year, accounting for 20% of the shipping industry’s CO2 emissions, or around 0.5% of total global emissions.

Economies of scale

“However, the bulker fleet moved around 50% of global seaborne trade in tonne-miles last year, and emitted less CO2 than the containership fleet – some 166m tonnes – while moving over three times as much cargo in tonnes,” Clarksons said.

“In part, this reflects the economies of scale in moving bulk cargoes in large quantities, but also progress in curbing the sector’s emissions over the last decade.”

The UK shipbroker said bulker fleet CO2 emissions in 2020 were slightly below 2010 levels, despite dry bulk tonne-mile demand having grown by 40%.

“Bulkers have, on average, reduced speeds by 18% since 2008, while 29% of capacity is now ‘eco’ which in line with containerships and tankers,” it added.

Bulkers re also said to have also seen “limited uptake” of energy saving technologies with around 7% of the fleet now recorded as fitted with one or more versus 11% for containerships and 9% for oil tankers.

However, with Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) requirements coming up in 2023, Clarksons said some of these options may “prove attractive”, with 71% of the fleet still ‘non-eco’ and lower potential for speed reductions than in, for example, the boxship sector.

With bulkers amongst the most well-travelled ships in the fleet, Clarksons said major onshore investment will also be needed, with only 77 out of a total of 1,800 bulker ports offering LNG bunkering.

“With the environmental agenda now firmly in focus, the bulker sector will be a key part of the industry’s future goals,” the shipbroker said.

“While the green transition appears to have started more gradually here than in some other parts of the industry, some steps forward are now being seen, and we will be tracking progress on the road ahead.”