As the shipping industry seeks to adopt cleaner practices in line with global environmental regulations, Dutch-based shipping company Spliethoff Group reiterated its commitment to cleaner shipping by investing in scrubbers for another vessel of its fleet.
On 26 June, Spliethoff’s vessel ‘Floragracht’ left the BLRT shipyard in Klaipeda, Lithuania, where she was outfitted with an exhaust gas cleaning system (scrubber), becoming the 24th vessel owned by the Dutch shipowner to be outfitted with a scrubber.
In the days to come, 30 more vessels of Spliethoff, BigLift Shipping and Sevenstar Yacht Transport will follow, the company added.
In 2012, Spliethoff Group subsidiary Transfennica started by outfitting their six Con-Ro vessels with scrubbers. In 2014–2015 Spliethoff’s 14 S-type vessels followed and at the same time sister-company Wijnne Barends fitted scrubbers in three of their C-type vessels.
The move comes as the company aims to comply with the IMO global sulphur cap entering into force from 1 January 2020 and shipowners are seeking which is the best solution for compliance, with the dilemma of scrubbers or environmentally compliant fuel being at the centre of global discussions.
The company is a member of the Trident Alliance, a coalition of shipping owners and operators collaborating for a robust enforcement of maritime sulphur regulations. Maersk, Hapag Lloyd, Hamburg Sud, Hoegh Autoliners, Stena Line, Wilhelmsen and DFDS include other members of the coalition.
Arne Hubregtse, technical director of Spliethoff Group, stated:
Thanks to scrubbers and with the support of our customers, Spliethoff Group will lower the impact of shipping on the environment and at the same time cope in a cost-efficient way with the cost increase caused by the stricter sulphur regulations. As a member of the Trident Alliance, we hope authorities will show the same commitment by enforcing the sulphur rules.
