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Shipowners warned to prepare for sulphur cap on fuel, or face repercussions
THE International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised that ships that do not adhere to the upcoming 0.5 per cent sulphur cap on fuel oil may be deemed 'unseaworthy", invalidating charter parties and liability insurance cover.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the European Refining Technology Conference (ERTC) in Athens, IMO technical officer Edmund Hughes stressed that the global reduction from the current 3.5 per cent sulphur limit would "enter into force on January 1 2020 without any delay."
Addressing concerns over the continued availability of heavy fuel oil (HFO) for shipowners that opt for the installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems, known as "scrubbers", Dr Hughes said the bunker industry would "have a part to play in ensuring high sulphur fuel oil continues to be supplied," reported UK's The Loadstar.
The installation cost of a scrubber system for a large containership is estimated to be US$10 million. However, this could be recovered relatively quickly, given the price difference between HFO and low-sulphur fuel oil, which currently stands at $360 and $540 per tonne respectively.
On a slow-steaming 10,000 TEU ship, burning 150 tonnes of fuel oil a day, the daily saving would be $27,000 on current prices, repaying the outlay for the scrubber within a year or so.
However, not everybody is keen to install a scrubber system, such as Hapag-Lloyd's chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen who described scrubber systems as being "very inefficient".
He said Hapag-Lloyd "would not" be installing them on its ships which would from January 2020 either burn low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). Hapag-Lloyd has inherited 17 ultra large container ships from its merger with UASC that were built to be "LNG-ready".
However, they would need to have part of a hold converted to house the gas tanks which could take away 500 TEU of available cargo capacity. Mr Habben Jansen said that a final decision on the shipping line's fuel strategy would be made "within six to nine months".
Indeed, the timing is critical, given that Hapag-Lloyd currently charters-in 99 vessels of its total fleet of 214, meaning that the carrier would need to discuss its "no scrubber" requirement with shipowners that may want to install the technology.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the European Refining Technology Conference (ERTC) in Athens, IMO technical officer Edmund Hughes stressed that the global reduction from the current 3.5 per cent sulphur limit would "enter into force on January 1 2020 without any delay."
Addressing concerns over the continued availability of heavy fuel oil (HFO) for shipowners that opt for the installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems, known as "scrubbers", Dr Hughes said the bunker industry would "have a part to play in ensuring high sulphur fuel oil continues to be supplied," reported UK's The Loadstar.
The installation cost of a scrubber system for a large containership is estimated to be US$10 million. However, this could be recovered relatively quickly, given the price difference between HFO and low-sulphur fuel oil, which currently stands at $360 and $540 per tonne respectively.
On a slow-steaming 10,000 TEU ship, burning 150 tonnes of fuel oil a day, the daily saving would be $27,000 on current prices, repaying the outlay for the scrubber within a year or so.
However, not everybody is keen to install a scrubber system, such as Hapag-Lloyd's chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen who described scrubber systems as being "very inefficient".
He said Hapag-Lloyd "would not" be installing them on its ships which would from January 2020 either burn low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). Hapag-Lloyd has inherited 17 ultra large container ships from its merger with UASC that were built to be "LNG-ready".
However, they would need to have part of a hold converted to house the gas tanks which could take away 500 TEU of available cargo capacity. Mr Habben Jansen said that a final decision on the shipping line's fuel strategy would be made "within six to nine months".
Indeed, the timing is critical, given that Hapag-Lloyd currently charters-in 99 vessels of its total fleet of 214, meaning that the carrier would need to discuss its "no scrubber" requirement with shipowners that may want to install the technology.
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