Port of Fujairah to ban use of open-loop scrubbers

The largest bunkering port in the Middle East is to ban the use of open-loop scrubbers and will require ships to use compliant fuel oil from 2020 the Port of Fujairah said in a Notice to Mariners agents GAC reported.

The move by Fujairah sees another major bunkering hub banning open-loop scrubbers from 2020 following a similar move announced in December last year by Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering port.

Read more: The significance of Singapore’s open-loop scrubber ban

The list of ports and countries banning the use of open-loop scrubbers, that some shipowners plan to use to comply with the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap is growing. China has prohibited washwater from scrubbers in port waters of coastal areas ECAs and Bohai Bay waters, and it is expected there will be a ban in the entire coastal ECA in due course.

According to P&I Club Gard other countries or ports with bans or restrictions are India, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Dublin in Ireland, Norway, and Hawaii, Connecticut and California in the US.

More ports and states are expected to ban open-loop scrubbers as the deadline for the sulphur cap draws closer.