Seatrade Maritime News, Gary Howard
Sales of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) rose in major bunkering hubs in the first quarter of 2021 as scrubber installations climbed but remained lower than pre-2020 sulphur cap highs.
HSFO sales in the first quarter of 2021 were up 47.2% compared to the first quarter of 2020, according to Bimco. At 3.1m tonnes, sales were under a third of that seen the first quarter of 2019. The extra sales of HSFO offset drops in low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) and marine gas oil (MGO) sales, giving an increase of 0.8% in overall bunker sales in Singapore in the first quarter.
Similar increases in the share of HSFO sales were seen in Fujairah and Panama, said Bimco.
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EUROSHORE’s views: the comparison with the article on the ICCT report, shows that we are still in the beginning of the transitional period. Things are moving fast. The EU and IMO are taking measures to commit the industry to meet the latest environmental targets. However, if you consider the global fleet shipping over the seas, fossil fuel will remain for some time, in particular for long routes. This transitional period does not exclude all players to do their best to prevent pollution and, port reception facilities, in collaboration with both port authorities and the shipping industry, do play a major role in collecting and treating waste with the highest technologies with a circular economy approach. Thanks to their high technology capability, some port reception facilities already produce recycled fuels, which can be considered as green fuels. No new infrastructures are necessary, and they could therefore immediately be used for the shipping industry as there are in other sectors of activity. See article titled “News from members: port reception facilities producing recycled fuel?