The global transition to cleaner, less polluting fuels is accelerating as industries and governments seek to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nowhere is this more urgent—or more complex—than in the maritime sector.
Driven by the International Maritime Organization’s ambition to achieve net-zero shipping by 2050, the marine industry is investing heavily in alternative fuels such as ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, and bio LNG. In fact, by the end of 2024, about 50% of all new ship orders were for vessels capable of using one or more of these emerging fuels.
Yet this rapid transition has outpaced regulatory development. Governments have struggled to keep up with the pace of change, offering limited guidance on the safe handling, bunkering, and emergency response related to marine alternative fuels (MAF). In the absence of clear international frameworks, the industry is stepping up to lead.
In the UK, a national working group was formed following a landmark stakeholder conference in June 2024. This group - now comprising 35 organisations from across the maritime sector - has continued to collaborate through desktop exercises, most recently in January 2025, to begin shaping operational guidance and risk protocols.
But this effort cannot stop at national borders. The risks associated with alternative fuels are global. Best practice must be developed collaboratively - across ports, operators, responders, modellers, and regulators - throughout Europe and beyond.
With key international organisations such as IMO, IPIECA, IOPC, and IOGP headquartered in London, and strong connections to centres of innovation in Singapore and Australia, the UK is ideally placed to lead this conversation.
It is the first forum to present the UK working group’s progress and to bring together stakeholders from across Europe and the international maritime community to learn, share, debate, and define how we manage the risks of alternative fuels - in operation, in port, in bunkering, and in emergency response.
Fuel Tides will be a continual forum for information, knowledge exchange and collaboration to ensure industry can meet the challenge alternative fuels present.
Fuel Tides is brought to you by the UK and Ireland Spill Association and Five Senses Media, the organisers of Interspill
Together, they have decades of marine industry and event management experience, ensuring the best conference and exhibition outcome.
Austen Hawkins
Event Director
austen@fivesensesmedia.co.uk
Mark Orr
Content Director
info@ukspill.org