Safety of Electrical (Battery-Powered) Ships: An Overview of IMO’s Safety Regulations and Class Rules/Requirements

Abstract

Today, 85-90% of global trade of food, energy, goods and raw materials carried by ships at sea. Shipping and maritime transportation by ships are vital to the global economy, trade and supply-chain. In recent years, the international community has a growing concern about global climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships of international shipping which produces 2-3% of global total anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The first milestone to prevent air pollution from ships of international shipping was adoption of MARPOL Annex-VI to limit emissions of Sulphur oxides and Nitrogen oxides from ship exhausts, to ban the deliberate emission of substances that deplete the ozone layer and to designate emission control areas. The IMO updated the “2018 Initial IMO Strategy”, the first of which started to be implemented in 2018, and adopted the “2023 IMO GHG Strategy” in 2023. One of ambitions of this current GHG strategy (2023) is “uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources…”. Accordingly, the maritime industry's search for alternative fuels, such as LPG, LNG, ammonia, methanol etc., and new technologies based on renewable energy sources such as electrical energy, solar energy and wind energy etc., has increased considerably in recent years. Lithium-ion battery technology is also one of the new technologies with zero or near-zero GHG emissions addressed by the IMO. In recent years, the use of electrical (battery-powered) ships has become increasingly widespread on ferries, Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax ships in particular that transport passengers and cargo in short distance between ports/terminals, especially in Northern European countries. But on the other hand, fire and explosion risks arising from battery system and other risks/failures arising from electricity require an international regulatory framework, strict rules/requirements for the safety of battery-powered ships. Therefore, it is important to better understand the international regulatory framework for the safety of battery-powered ships through a systematic review. With that aim, this paper provides an overview of the IMO’s efforts to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping and to develop a regulatory framework for the safety of battery-powered ships and also rules/requirements of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) member classification societies in relation to safety of battery-powered ships.

Keywords

• Maritime Safety
• IMO GHG Strategy
• Class Rules
• Maritime Management
• Safety of Electrical Ships

Elektrikli (Bataryalı) Gemilerin Emniyeti: IMO’nun Emniyet Düzenlemeleri ile Klas Kurallarına/Gereklerine Genel Bir Bakış

Öz

Günümüzde küresel gıda, enerji, mal ve hammadde ticaretinin %85-90'ı denizyoluyla gemilerle taşınmaktadır. Gemilerle yapılan nakliye ve deniz taşımacılığı, küresel ekonomi, ticaret ve tedarik zinciri için hayati öneme sahiptir. Öte yandan, uluslararası toplum son yıllarda küresel iklim değişikliği konusunda giderek artan bir endişe duymaktadır. Uluslararası Denizcilik Örgütü (IMO), küresel toplam antropojenik CO2 emisyonlarının %2-3'ünü üreten gemilerinden kaynaklanan sera gazı (GHG) emisyonlarını azaltma çabalarında bulunmaktadır. Gemilerinden kaynaklanan hava kirliliğini önlemedeki ilk kilometre taşı, gemi egzozlarından çıkan Kükürt oksit ve Azot oksit emisyonlarını sınırlamak, ozon tabakasını incelten maddelerin kasıtlı emisyonunu yasaklamak ve emisyon kontrol alanlarını belirlemek için MARPOL Ek-VI'nın kabul edilmesiydi. IMO, ilkini 2018 yılından itibaren uygulamaya başladığı “2018 Initial IMO Stratejisi”ni güncelleyerek 2023 yılında “2023 IMO GHG Stratejisi”ni kabul etti. Bu güncel GHG stratejisinin (2023) hedeflerinden biri de “sıfır veya sıfıra yakın sera gazı emisyonu teknolojilerinin, yakıtların ve/veya enerji kaynaklarının kullanımını arttırmak…” şeklindedir. Dolayısıyla, denizcilik sektörünün LPG, LNG, amonyak, metanol vb. gibi alternatif yakıtlar ve elektrik enerjisi, güneş enerjisi ve rüzgar enerjisi vb. gibi yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarına dayalı yeni teknolojiler arayışı son yıllarda önemli ölçüde artmaktadır. Lityum iyon batarya teknolojisi de IMO tarafından işaret edilen sıfır veya sıfıra yakın sera gazı emisyonuna sahip yeni teknolojilerden biridir. Son yıllarda, özellikle Kuzey Avrupa ülkelerinde, limanlar/terminaller arasında kısa mesafede yolcu ve yük taşıyan özellike feribotlar ve Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax gemilerinde elektrikli (bataryalı) gemilerin kullanımı giderek yaygınlaşmaktadır. Ancak diğer yandan, batarya sisteminden kaynaklanan yangın ve patlama riskleri ve elektrikten kaynaklanan diğer riskler/arızalar, elektrikli (bataryalı) gemilerin emniyetine yönelik uluslararası bir düzenleyici çerçeveyi ve katı kuralları gerekli kılmaktadır. Bu nedenle, elektrikli (bataryalı) gemilerin emniyetine yönelik uluslararası düzenleyici çerçeveyi sistematik bir inceleme yoluyla daha iyi anlamak önemlidir. Bu amaçla, bu bildiride, IMO'nun uluslararası deniz taşımacılığından kaynaklanan sera gazı emisyonlarını azaltma ve elektrikli (bataryalı) gemilerin emniyetine yönelik düzenleyici çerçeve geliştirme çabaları hakkında ve Uluslararası Klas Kuruluşları Birliği (IACS) üyesi klas kuruluşlarının elektrikli (bataryalı) gemilerin emniyeti ile ilişkili kuralları ve gereklilikleri hakkında genel bir bakış sunulmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Deniz Emniyeti
• Elektrikli Gemilerin Emniyeti
• IMO GHG Stratejisi
• Klas Kuralları
• Denizcilik Yönetimi

Kaynakça

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