FueLNG and Pavillion Gas have been awarded up to SGD3m each in co-funding from the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels.

Analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley have predicted that crude oil prices could spiral to $90 a barrel by 2020 as the IMO’s 0.5% sulphur cap boosts demand from ship operators for more refined products.

Songa Shipmanagement has opted to fit scrubbers from CR Ocean Engineering (CROE) to 14 of its oil/chemical tankers and heavy lift vessels, and has taken options for five more systems.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will extend the mandatory use of the mass flow metering (MFM) system to all bunker tankers delivering distillates in the Port of Singapore from July 1, 2019.

AP Moller Maersk ceo Soren Skou believes that best solution for meeting the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 0.5% sulphur cap is for refineries to provide low sulphur to shipping.

As many as 44% of shipowners are considering liquefied natural gas (LNG) for propulsion on their newbuildings according to SMM Maritime Industry Report.

Intercargo is encouraging effective but pragamatic enforcement of the 0.5% sulphur cap from 2020 given the drastic step change that will take place for the industry.

With it looking almost certain that the IMO's 0.5% global sulphur cap will be enforced from 1 January 2020 the question of whether to fit scrubbers, switch to LNG, or simply use low sulphur fuel remains a complex one.

IMO secretary-general Ki-Tack Lim underscored the organisation’s commitment to enforcing the 0.5% sulphur cap on marine fuel from 2020, and in a warning for those hoping for a reprieve said “There is no turning back!”

Bimco ceo and secretary general Angus Frew sees the environment as the most important item on the agenda for shipping in 2018.