Hapag-Lloyd has discussed the impact that Low Sulfur Fuel (LSF) regulations, imposed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to reduce marine pollution, will have after their introduction in January 2020.
The choice, according to Hapag-Lloyd, is to switch to expensive low-sulfur fuels, or invest in Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) powered ships.
However, there are still questions around how successful these alternatives will be.
The estimated overall cost of new regulations, for the shipping industry, is as high as USD $60 billion.
Captain Paul Whyte discusses how ECDIS have been made mandatory by IMO regulations in a recent Port Technology technical paper
Low-sulfur fuels are “the simplest way to comply with the new regulations”, according to ocean carrier, however it has expressed concern over its cost as for the switch to be viable, significant capital investment is required.
The ECGS option allows a ship to use the same fuel but with the excess pollution and sulfur content removed.
However, the ocean carrier has found that there is uncertainty with such devices as they are currently untested in real-world operations with large container vessels.
The other alternative Hapag-Lloyd has covered is LNG.
This fuel powers 17 of its containerships, which can transition between fuel oil and LNG with the installation of an additional LNG fuel tank.
This cost of conversion, or the expense of building new LNG ships, is still “quite high”, according to Hapag-Lloyd, which has concluded that every solution “comes with its challenges” and will be expensive for ocean carriers.
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