Andrew Le Masurier, ITOPF Senior Technical Adviser As the shipping industry transitions to low- and zero-carbon fuels, the operational and environmental challenges associated with these alternatives are becoming more apparent. To better understand the spill response considerations for alternative marine fuels, we sat down with the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation ITOPF, a leading authority in marine pollution response and industry preparedness, to discuss spill behaviour, associated risks and response strategies of these new alternative fuels to assist shipowners as they navigate this transition. Q | There seems to be many alternative fuel options for Shipowners to choose from, which fuels are ITOPF focusing on? Shipowners now have a very large range of different fuel options to choose from, from using biofuels as a drop-in alternative to HFO, retrofitting an existing vessel to run on an alternative fuel or ordering a vessel with a dual-fuel system that can run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), methanol or ammonia alongside conventional fuels. ITOPF is focusing on the fuels that appear, currently, to be the most commercially viable, which include biofuels, LNG, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), methanol, ammonia, lithium-ion batteries and to a certain extent hydrogen. We are also following the development of small modular nuclear reactors, which have increasingly cropped up in discussions on maritime decarbonisation in recent years. We, at ITOPF, have been providing technical advice to our Members and Associates in the event of a spill, either from bunkers or cargo for the last 55 years. As a multi-fuel future is widely predicted, at least for now, we ensure that our stakeholders’ preparedness and awareness of the challenges of a spill encompasses all the potential fuel types, rather than focusing solely on one fuel type. For this reason, ITOPF has prepared a series of documents on the alternative fuel types for Clubs, shipowners and government organisati