Americas News
OW Bunker: 2015 ECA Rules Will Make LA / Long Beach a Key Distillate Market
Los Angeles and Long Beach's bunker market is primed for "considerable development" and is set to become a key market for distillate fuels thanks to upcoming changes in the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) rules, OW Bunker's Adrian Tolson, General Manager - North America, told delegates who had recently gathered for the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA)'s Shipping 2014 annual conference.
"LA / Long beach is the largest container port in the U.S. with 15 million [twenty-foot equivalent units] (TEUs). Its a huge port," Tolson said.
"You go there and its very, very active, but you sit there and wonder where all the bunker barges are. There aren't any alongside the ships."
"There can be considerable development of fuel supply in LA and along with the 2015 ECA coming in, LA and Long Beach will play a key role in [fulfilling the new ECA fuel requirement]."
Current rules for vessels operating within the ECA, a zone effectively 200 nautical miles off the U.S. and Canada coastline, mean they must use a marine fuel with a sulfur content not exceeding 1.0 percent by weight, or have an approved equivalent method of compliance.
On January 1, 2015 that limit reduces to 0.10 percent, a move that is widely expected to lead to the end of a low sulfur residual bunker market and the adoption of distillate fuels for use within ECAs.
"Southern California is a massive exporter of distillate materials nowadays around the world, so clearly there's an opportunity for shipowners to find Los Angeles a very competitive distillate market," said Tolson.
Earlier this month, OW Bunker announced that this month it will start physical bunker operations in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
