Non-compliance with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 0.5% sulphur cap effective from next January is expected to reach 860 000 barrels of bunker fuel per day, a European energy research firm has found. According to Rystand Energy, some 2 800 exhaust emission scrubbers, the preferred way to deal with the pollution restriction, will be installed on liners by end-2020. It will enable the ongoing consumption of some 690 000 barrels of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO). But non-compliance, particularly in areas where it can’t be monitored, such as certain areas around the African coast, is expected to push HSFO consumption in excess of the cap to 860 barrels per day.
