Sinopec plans to create a fleet of 100 barges over the next three years aiming to supply IMO 2020 compliant marine fuel. If that happens, Sinopec would become a top regional supplier of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO).
The newly-published “CIMAC Guideline: Marine fuel handling in connection to stability and compatibility” focuses on the upcoming 2020 sulphur cap and assists owners and provides a practical and working understanding of stability and compatibility of marine fuel oils.
TORM informed that as seen across the entire industry, the company has experienced some delays in recent scrubber installations. For this reason it decided to postpone some installations to the first and the second quarter of 2020, in order to reduce the risk of further delays, and also to use the current strong market.
In order to effectively implement the IMO’s 2020 global sulphur limit, China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) issued a notice describing all the relevant requirements to ensure compliance with the new regulation.
The UK Chamber’s of Shipping Policy Director, Anna Ziou, calls for collaboration amid approaching 2020 sulphur cap, awaiting for the IMO meeting which will be the key to demonstrate the industry’s commitment in its GHG ambition.
During a conference in Rotterdam, René Loozen, Consultancy Director at Insights Global stated that the upcoming IMO 2020 sulphur cap will boost the demand for more IMO 2020-compliant fuel, adding that the approaching regulation will lead to different dynamics in the bunker fuel and tank storage sectors.
Japan P&I Club issues information and guidelines on dealing with the use of compatible oil to prevent any potential accidents, in line with IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap approach, a change that has already made the shipping industry look for alternatives.
The IBIA Annual Convention 2019, which took place on October 22 to 24, focused on the transition to the global low-sulphur regime in light of the upcoming 2020 sulphur cap, while also gathered major shipping stakeholders in discussions on how to bridge the gap to IMO 2020.
The US is leveraging low prices of HSFO by buying record volumes, aiming to later upgrade it into cleaner products, ahead of the 2020 sulphur cap. Namely, US is shipping fuel oil from countries such as Russia, boosting imports of the product into the country.
The Singapore Registry of Ships has crossed the 95 million gross tonnage milestone in 2019 and maintained its position among the top registries in the world. The milestone was announced during the ‘2020 & Beyond’, the SRS Forum held by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on November 8.
