As shipping still deals with the challenges caused by the global pandemic’, Michael McNamara, Vice President Global Fuel Supply, Carnival Corporation, made a warning that the sector will need ‘a lot of flexibility’ from the marine fuel supply community.
As Mr. McNamara said during the International Bunker Industry Association’s (IBIA) Bunkering & Shipping in Transition conference, the marine fuel supply community must be more flexible with regard to short-term quantities and demand estimates.
As he explained, the importance of reliability from marine fuel suppliers is crucial while the cruise line industry continues to restore operations
More specifically, he explained that in the past 18 months there was a lot of leniency and flexibility in delivery schedules. This is because the industry did not have 24/7 operations, but as the normal reality kicks in, “that leniency is no longer there.”
Finally, Mr. McNamara stressed the ‘significant challenges’ that the cruise line industry had to deal with with regard to rebuilding high sulphur fuel oil supply markets globally, as well as establishing marine LNG supply into regions where new gas-powered cruise vessels will soon be operating.
