In a recent move, international maritime organization has put .5% sulphur in the marine fuel oil cap. By 2020, all vessels have to comply with the above standard. This decision was taken in meeting held in London last week.
What Does .5% Sulphur Marine Fuel Means
This means that by 2020 every ship has to burn fuel which is having sulphur content equal or lower than the .5 %. Ships failing to comply this have to pay fine and have to go through legal processing related to the environment.
Why .5% Sulphur In Marine Fuel
Being the largest industry in the world, shipping burns lot of fuel, this directly affects the environment also. The idea is to decrease the sulphur content in fuel, so the adverse effects of smoke coming out of the ship can be reduced to a greater extent.
Why People are Opposing .5% Sulphur In Marine Fuel
There are various committees who are afraid that the capacity of the marine fuel oil refinery are not enough to feed the whole shipping world with .5 % sulphur marine fuel oil. Thus, it could jeopardize the very movement of the ships. Although IMO has done extensive research on this issue, after 2008, but still industry experts think there is more to be done in this.
Secondly this kind of fuel will more costly than the one which is used right now. The other name for this fuel is ULSFO- Ultra Low Sulphur Fuel Oil.
Shipping Giants like Maersk already have modified systems on their ships, which uses ULSFO.
Right now this kind of fuel is used mostly in special areas like west Europe and American coast.
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I’m not easily imerspsed. . . but that’s impressing me! 🙂