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If fuel is in short supply the cost will rise, not just for shipping but for all users of the fuel.
significant amount of the fuel oil that the IMO study concludes will be available for marine use is unsafe to store and use on ships.
• On how an assessed shortage of sulphur removal capacity in refineries will be resolved so that capacity is in place by 2020. The study also fails to model
the disruption that an overnight introduction of the global cap (from December 31, 2019) would cause. As a result, BIMCO states, it
is not possible to determine whether the global refining industry will have the capacity to produce enough of the compliant marine fuel by 2020. The organisation also raises concerns that the supply of fuel to other sectors of the global economy could face major disruption if the scenario is not addressed beforehand. In fact BIMCO, among
BIMCO warns of disruption on introduction of sulphur cap
Shipping companies are likely to have problems complying with new IMO rules on sulphur content in marine fuel – certainly at an affordable price. Yvonne Mulder reports.
W
hen the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
adopted its Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships protocol in 2008, it was agreed that a study would be done to determine when the rules would come into effect.
Revised rules The revised MARPOL Annex VI, which covers sulphur and particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, ozone depleting substances and the energy efficiency of ships, introduced a global cap of 0.5 percent (compared with 3.5 percent now) on the sulphur content in marine fuel oil from 2020 in places outside special designated emission control
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areas (see panel). But, in recognition of
potential problems, the IMO agreed that a scientific study on the availability of fuel for ships to comply with this provision would guide it in deciding on whether to keep January 1, 2020 as the implementation date, or to postpone until January 1, 2025. The IMO has now ruled that
the earlier 2020 date is feasible. However, several groups, including BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping organisation, have expressed concerns. BIMCO said the IMO has
based its decision on the results of a study that fails to meet its own terms of reference in several critical areas: • On fuel oil quality. A
Special designated control areas
Ships operating in designated control areas have been obliged to use fuel with a sulphur content of no more than 0.1 percent since January 2015. The emission control areas established under MARPOL Annex VI for SOx are: the Baltic Sea area, the North Sea area, the North American area (covering designated coastal areas off the United States and Canada), and the United States Caribbean Sea area (around Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands).
others, has funded an independent supplementary study (carried out by EnSys and Navigistics) to assess the availability of marine fuel, which does address all the above issues. This study concluded that it is unlikely that there will be sufficient low-sulphur fuel available in 2020, while maintaining an uninterrupted supply of fuel to all other sectors of the global economy.
Rising costs Lars Robert Pedersen, deputy secretary general at BIMCO, said: “This is not about the cost of low-sulphur fuel for ships – that has long been known. We know that the shipping industry will buy the fuel it needs. But if it is in short supply, the cost will rise not just for shipping but for all users of the fuel. This will price those in poorer economies out of the market. “It is a complex issue – but
the difficulties in ensuring sufficient refinery capacity and the disruption caused by an overnight introduction have to be thoroughly taken into account.”
January/February 2017
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