In less than two years, all ships trading outside of sulphur Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will be required to use fuel with a sulphur content of up to 0.5 pct, a considerable reduction from the currently permitted maximum of 3.5 pct.
The new requirement has given rise to the speculation that some owners and operators might purposely decide not to comply with the requirement, paving the way for market distortion due to unfair competition.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) believes there is no reason to think that there will be anything other than full compliance by the vast majority of shipping companies.
The Chamber drew a parallel with the previous experiences with the implementation of ECAs, saying that there was little evidence of deliberate non-compliance, adding that the few non-conformities identified were due largely to technical problems during the fuel switchover.
“However, implementation of the global cap – including ensuring uniform compliance in trades away from major shipping lanes – is likely to prove far more complicated, especially if compliant fuels are in short supply and there is indeed a significant price spike in 2020,” ICS said.
2020年全球低硫的實施仍存在著不確定性，然而，有一點可以肯定的是，航運業將需要大量資金轉用符合標準的燃料。
在不到兩年的時間內，所有在硫排放控制區（ECAs）以外貿易的船舶都將被要求使用含硫量高達0.5％的燃料，目前允許的最大量的3.5％。
新的要求引發了一些猜測，即一些業主和運營商可能故意決定不遵守要求，為因不公平競爭導致的市場扭曲先前的道路。
國際海運聯合會（ICS）認為，沒有理由認為絕大多數船公司會完全遵守其他規定。
該分庭與之前實施ECA的經驗相似，表示幾乎沒有證據表明有故意違規，並補充說，少數發現的不合格主要是由於燃料轉換期間的技術問題。
“但是，實施全球上限 - 包括確保遠離主要航線的交易符合統一標準 - 可能要復雜得多，特別是如果符合規定的燃料供應不足，並且到2020年的確會出現明顯的價格上漲，” ICS表示。
Image Courtesy: Wallenius Wihelmsen / Imformation Source: World Maritime News Staff
