New regulations for sulphur in marine fuel - IMO 2020

From January 1, 2020 new global regulation will come into force in the field of sulphur in marine fuel. IMO, International Maritime Organization, has decided that ships may only use low-sulphur fuel. Previously a sulfur cap of 3.5% could be emitted and from January onwards this will be reduced to a maximum of 0.5%. The IMO has introduced this regulation to further reduce air pollution from ships and to protect the environment.

What does this mean for us? To reduce sulphur emissions, it is possible to use ultra low sulphur fuel oil (ulfso). However, this fuel is more expensive than the current fuel oil. Analysts at ING estimate the difference in price at 165 to 300 dollars per tonne. The exact figures will be announced later this year. An alternative is the use of scrubbers. However, most parties will opt for cleaner fuel, analysts say.

The vessels operated by Europe Caribbean Line will use fuel with this lower sulphur content. In order to be compliant on 1 January the new fuel has to be used as from 1 December. The costs of low-sulfur fuel are not yet known, but we are trying to inform our customers about this in time.

Additional (background) information can be found here.