As the hot debate of environmental compliance for shipowners evolves, Norwegian chemical tanker company Odfjell announced it will not invest in scrubbers to achieve compliance with IMO’s sulphur cap in 2020.
While there are certain scenarios that would make scrubbers an attractive solution for compliance, Odfjell CEO Kristian Mørch believes that overall the technology ‘does not make sense’.
In an oil conference on Thursday, Mr. Mørch was quoted as saying that all of the company’s fleet spends around 50% of its time in ports, where scrubbers are pointless, Reuters reported.
Furthermore, about 60% of the firm’s revenues are covered by contracts with customers and they have bunker adjustment clauses, he added.
The IMO’s global sulphur cap entering into force in 2020 mandates that ships must be powered by fuel containing up to 0,5% of sulphur, compared to the 3,5% which is currently in force. This has created a dilemma for shipowners who have to choose between investment in scrubbers or environmentally compliant fuel, including LSFO or LNG.
A recent trend in the industry sees an increasing shift to scrubber technology over the last months, with the Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Association (EGCSA) counting 983 vessels fitted with scrubbers as of 31 May 2018. Despite their high installation cost, scrubbers allow ships to continue burning cheap high-sulphur bunker fuel, which has set HSFO forecasts higher than expected.
Major players have revealed intentions to install scrubbers, including Danish giant Maersk that said this week it would opt for scrubbers on some of its ships, noting however that it sees LSFO as a better option for the majority of its ships.
