Dry bulk operator Pacific Basin goes for a “Balanced Approach” to be in compliance with IMO 2020 rule on reduced sulfur in bunker fuel, reports Ship & Bunker.
What is the Balanced Approach?
The company has a fleet with smaller and larger ships. For compliance:
- will use the more expensive, low sulfur fuel for its handysize segment
- fit its bigger ships with emissions cleaning equipment or scrubbers.
The company said in its half-year results that the arrangements are in place with repair yards and scrubber makers to install scrubbers on a majority of their owned supramax vessels.
However, it will not fit the equipment on its 82, owned, handysize ships.
Combination of scrubbers and LSFO
Overall, the company said that it expects that:
- around 85-90% of its handysize and supramax fleet to use low-sulphur fuel
- the rest of the fleet operating with scrubber units and cheaper, high-sulfur bunker fuel.
That combination, of scrubbers and low-sulfur fuel, allows for “some optionality in how we manage our fuel needs to comply with the new rules,” the company said. So far, ten of its supramaxes have scrubber units installed.
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Source: Ship&Bunker
