Wilhelmsen
Ships Service, a leading global provider of services and products to the
shipping industry, is warning of price, supply and safety risks in the run-up
to the global ban on R-22 (chlorodifluoromethane or HCFC) refrigerant. The
colourless gas, which has high ozone depletion and global warming potential, is
still said to be in use on between 6,000 and 8,000 vessels worldwide.
R-22 was outlawed
throughout the EU in a process that ran from 2010 to 1 January 2015. It is
currently being phased out in the US, where no new or imported R-22 will be
permitted from 1 January 2020. As part of the Montreal Protocol (MP), a UN
agreement to protect the ozone layer, HCFC use will be phased out in member
countries by 2030.
“R-22 is a
versatile and effective refrigerant gas that has served the shipping industry
well, but it is fast approaching the end of the line,” comments Svenn Jacobsen,
Technical Product Manager Refrigeration at Wilhelmsen Ships Service. “The
compliance deadlines are approaching and this has, quite rightly, impacted
tremendously on global production. As availability goes down price and supply
risks go up, and this is potentially bad news for the owners of those remaining
vessels that still use R-22.”
Industry
figures indicate that legal global R-22 production this year will be only 10%
of the volume produced in 1990. This weak supply and relatively strong demand
will exert upward pressure on prices. Jacobsen believes that, if ships are slow
to switch to ozone friendly refrigerant alternatives, costs “could easily
double over the course of the next year.” This creates a new problem.
“When prices increase and/or availability
shrinks, alternative and illegally produced products suddenly start appearing
on the market,” he states. “This is happening already, and will only increase
with demand.
“Gases are being
smuggled into countries, mis-declared and counterfeited. The consequences of
this can be serious for vessels, catastrophic for equipment, with adulterated
refrigerant causing poor mechanical performance and breakdown, and potentially
deadly for individuals.”
On the latter point
Jacobsen refers to the US, where the FBI has noted that some unapproved
refrigerants contain propane, a highly flammable and explosive gas. The federal
agency says that many of these substitutes are made in China and sold onwards
on the black market.
The solution,
Jacobsen says, is clear: “At the end of the day all vessels will have to find
environmentally friendly alternatives to R-22. In the meantime, those
shipowners and operators that still require it must use reliable suppliers that
can provide genuine refrigerant from approved producers. This is the only way
to assure quality, standards of purity and worldwide compliance.
“There are heavy
fines for not complying with regulations – the EPA can assess fines of up to
$37,000 a day for violations – and real risks to vessels and crews in not doing
so. R-22 is on its way out; the industry has to be aware of how it can bid
farewell in the safest, securest and most appropriate manner.”
WSS and R-22:
In the countdown to
the global ban WSS is providing the market with Unicool R-22 synthetic HCFC refrigerant, in areas where this is
still permissible. The gas is used in a variety of maritime refrigeration
applications for low, medium and high temperatures (-40 to +16° C).
Unicool features
All
refillable cylinders are inspected prior to refilling
Residue
refrigerant recovered to prevent environmental damage
Content
is 100% genuine refrigerant from approved producer
Conforms
to ARI-700 purity standard
Benefits
Worldwide
compliance
Assured
quality
Refillable
cylinders