What options does the sulphur cap leave?
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 2020 regulations, which cut the maximum level of sulphur content permitted in fuel by more than 85%, officially come into force on 1 January, but could start to impact operations as early as Q4/2019.
Graham Little, managing director of Evolution Time Critical, an emergency logistics supplier, explained: “While there may be some impact on transport costs, the potential impact on arrival dates in ports is more important. This is crucial to the integrity of the automotive supply chain, where ‘just in time’ delivery is so often the norm. So anything that could cause a delay has to be combatted.”
One of the carriers’ options is to buy ‘greener’ fuels. Another is to take some of their ships out of service over the next few months to install scrubbers and ensure that their full fleet is compliant from January. Finally, to conserve fuel, an increase in the practice of ‘slow steaming’ is also a possibility, said Little. (cd)
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