IMO 2020 has come 14 months closer and Eagle Bulk Shipping decided to extend its investment in scrubbers and ordered 15 more exhaust gas cleaning systems.
Namely, Eagle Bulk Shipping will purchase 15 more scrubbers for its fleet. This comes after the company’s series of agreements for the purchase of up to 37 scrubbers, comprised of 19 scrubbers and up to 18 additional units.
The completion of the 37 installations is expected by January 1, 2020, the implementation date of the new sulphur emission cap regulation by the IMO.
As previously disclosed, Eagle Bulk, in partnership with a global engineering firm, has developed a scrubber installation program whereby a significant amount of the required retrofit work will be carried out onboard the vessels while at sea and trading, thereby reducing off-hire time as compared with a typical shipyard installation.
What is more, Eagle Bulk has partnered with a global engineering firm to develop a scrubber installation program. According to the program, a significant amount of the retrofit work will be conducted onboard the vessels while at sea and trading. This will enable the reduction off-hire time as compared with a typical shipyard installation.
On the wake of the announcement, Eagle Bulk maintains options to purchase up to three additional scrubbers.
Eagle Bulk’s fleet is consisted, mostly, of Supramax/Ultramax dry bulk vessels. Supramax/Ultramax vessels, which are constructed with on-board cranes, range in size from approximately 50,000 to 65,000 dwt.
Some of the recent companies that have also chosen scrubbers to comply with the 2020 sulphur cap are, GOGL, Danaos and MPC. Namely, GOGL will retrofit scrubbers on 16 Capesize vessels, and Danaos has pledged to install scrubbers on six vessels, while it also in discussions to install scrubbers on five more vessels. For its part, MPC Container Ships signed agreements for the purchase of five scrubbers. They will be retrofitted on five vessels within the company’s fleet before 1 January 2020.