In a letter to shareholders co-ceos of DHT Trygve P. Munthe and Svein Moxnes Harfjeld said the company was neither for nor against scrubbers. The further explanation as to why it is fitting scrubbers to more than half its fleet comes as major tanker hub Singapore announced it would be banning the use of open loop scrubbers in its waters from 2020 when the 0.5% sulphur cap is enforced, and more countries are expected to follow.
Read more: Singapore to ban use of open loop scrubbers in port waters
“We believe scrubbers to be an economical way to comply with the new regulations and want with this communication to share some important details in our scrubber programme,” they said.
DHT is fitting scrubbers to 18 of the 27 vessels in its fleet – 15 retrofits plus two newbuildings. Of the scrubbers fit 15 will be capabale of scrubbimg down to 0.1% sulphur content for use in emission control areas (ECAs).
“We configured our fuel tank lay-out allowing us to carry various grades of fuels facilitating the flexibility to consume compliant fuels with 0.5% or less sulphur content when in emission control areas and in ports that does not permit scrubbers. We have elected this configuration in anticipation of countries implementing stricter rules related to use of scrubbers when ships operate in their respective near seas and ports,” they said.
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