ABSTRACT
The maritime sector is going through a transformation towards greener shipping: the reduction of emissions by replacing fossil fuels by alternative green energy carriers such as methanol, dimethyl ether, ammonia, and hydrogen. Authorities are willing to accept alternative fuels on the grounds of equivalent safety meaning that safety can be attained through dedicated design and operational measures which is equivalent to the safety of conventional fuels. In this paper, a risk based approach is presented for demonstrating equivalent safety for the usage of methanol as a bunker fuel. This approach is then applied to a case study for a methanol fueled cargo ship. As reference fuels, marine gas oil, heavy fuel oil and liquefied natural gas were chosen. It is demonstrated that the concept of risk, based on the aspects probability and severity, provides a means to demonstrate equivalent safety of novel technologies for green shipping.
