January 1st of 2015 marked the commencement date of new emissions regulations for vessels operating in Emissions Control Areas (ECAs). Following regulation 14 of the IMO's MARPOL Annex VI, vessels will be obligated to burn bunkers with a maximum 0.1% sulphur content by mass within ECAs, which currently cover the North Sea, Baltic Sea, North American coastline and US Caribbean.  Operators who fail to conform with this limit (and cannot demonstrate a defence or mitigating factor under the regulations) will face financial penalties and possible vessel detention by ECA states. Compliance In order to comply with the new limits within ECAs, operators face the choice of burning low-sulphur fuel oil, or installing emissions abatement technologies such as scrubbers to their vessels, or alternatively making the switch to burning LNG or biofuels. In essence, operators must weigh up any return on investment in new technology with costs/risks - notably, the higher price of low-sulphur fuel, but also the hidden costs of technological failure caused by burning it.  From data gathered by the Lloyd's List 2014 Sulphur Survey, it appears that, in the near term at least, operators will tend to opt to burn low-sulphur distillates in lieu of capital expenditure on...