The issue of SOx emissions comes into focus again with the 2020 global sulphur cap fast approaching. The concerned owners have to comply with numerous options, including the fitting of scrubbers.
Until now, the fitting of SOx scrubbers have been only limited to certain vessel types that spend their time considerably in Emissions Control Areas (ECAs), with the proportion of new contracts for scrubber-fitted ships appears to be on the rise.
Need for a makeover:
The emission of SOx has been regularised with 0.1% limits being imposed on the sulphur content of fuel, closely linked to SOx emissions, within a number of Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) from 2015.
Initially, the first global sulphur cap was imposed in 2012, initially set at 3.5%, but in 2020 it is expected to fall sharply to 0.5%, necessitating significant change in the operation of vessels.
Shipowners have been provided with three main options for complying with sulphur limits. The first is to use low sulphur petroleum-based fuels such as marine gasoil (MGO) or certain blends with fuel oil. Another is to use alternative fuels with a low sulphur content, with LNG the most high-profile of these. The third option is to use a scrubber system to ‘clean’ SOx particles from the ship’s exhaust gases, allowing owners to use conventional fuel oil.
Vessels to be revamped:
As of 1 December, the vessels to be retrofitted with scrubbers have been rising steadily to 240 including 57 Ro-Ros, as well as 62 cruise and ferry units. Meanwhile, 25 gas carriers and 23 tankers have also been featured in the total.
In 2016, an estimated 27% of ferries and 26% of Ro-Ros spent more than 50% of their time in ECAs, while almost a third of cruise ships spent more than 30% of their time in ECAs.
Owners compliance:
The experts are looking forward to see the acceleration in growth in the scrubber-fitted fleet. The proportion of new contracts for scrubber-equipped vessels increasing from roughly 1% in the period 2012-15 to around 5% in 2017.
Although scrubbers can eventually reduce costs by allowing vessels to use cheaper fuel but high installation costs faced by the owners while installing the equipment pushes them to face a long payback period. There also remains uncertainty over how the refining industry will meet the growing need for low sulphur fuels, and over the costs of competing technologies such as dual-fuel LNG engines, leading owners to remain cautious.
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Source: Clarksons
