Insights

Decarbonization and Alternative Fuels: The Compliance Picture

Shipping's energy transition is now a design and compliance question as much as an engineering one. Owners weighing LNG, ammonia, methanol or hydrogen-ready vessels have to align ambition with an evolving regulatory framework, ideally before steel is cut.

6 min read

Regulation is moving with the technology

Measures under MARPOL Annex VI, including ship energy-efficiency and carbon-intensity requirements, continue to tighten, alongside the IMO's wider strategy to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from international shipping. The practical implication for owners is that fuel and machinery choices carry long-term compliance consequences, not just capital ones.

Get the basis right at newbuilding

The cheapest time to resolve a regulatory question is during specification and plan review. Confirming the statutory and class basis for an alternative-fuel design up front avoids expensive rework later, and an Approval in Principle is often the first formal milestone on that path.

Compliance as a continuous program

Decarbonization is not a single certificate. It is an ongoing program of monitoring, reporting and verification across the life of the vessel, best supported by a system that keeps the evidence current and the picture clear.

Put This Into Practice

Talk to a senior reviewer about your fleet, your next inspection or your newbuilding program.