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53% of owners/operators not ready for compliance with sulphur cap

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With the deadline for the 0.5% global sulphur cap less than 19 months away and informal poll of shipowners and operators by classification society ABS found that 53% of owners and operators fleets were not ready to meet the regulation.

ssuing an advisory on marine fuel oil ahead of the 2020 sulphur cap ABS said it was vital owners consider the available options and the impacts on their fleet as the deadline for compliance approcahed. Underscoring the urgency of this need an informal survey by the class society found 53% of owners and operators said they had yet to get the fleets ready for compliance.

“The IMO 2020 sulfur cap requirement will introduce a significant demand change from heavy fuel to low sulfur fuel almost overnight. The industry currently is debating how to prepare as the consequences of this shift are difficult to predict," said Kirsi Tikka, ABS executive vice president and senior maritime advisor.

“The ABS Advisory addresses concerns about the safety impacts and quality of the new blended and hybrid fuels that are currently not covered by the ISO fuel standard, and provides guidance on fuel selection, modification considerations and operational challenges.”

Options to comply with IMO's 0.5% sulphur cap which comes into force on 1 January 2020 include, alternative fuels such as LNG, fitting scrubbers and burning low sulphur fuels. As the deadline approaches both LNG as a fuel and scrubbers seem to be gaining more traction despite the investments required.

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