EMEA News
Sweden Plans Ban on Scrubbers
The government of Sweden is planning to follow Denmark's suit in banning the use of scrubbers in its waters.
The Swedish government has issued a proposal to ban the discharge of washwater from open-loop scrubbers into its waters from July 1, 2025. This would be followed by a ban of bleed-off washwater discharge from closed-loop scrubbers from January 1, 2029.
"Reducing emissions into the air by moving pollution to the sea is not a sustainable solution," Andreas Carlson, the country's minister of infrastructure and housing, said in a statement on the government's website.
"Therefore, a proposal is now being made to prohibit the scrubbers' discharge into the water.
"Most Swedish shipowners have already chosen to run on fuel with such low sulfur content that they stay within the emission requirements without scrubbers.
"Now we want it to apply to all vessels in Swedish maritime territory."
Denmark took a similar decision earlier this year, banning open-loop scrubber discharge from July 2025 and closed-loop bleed-off discharge from July 2029.
28.3% of total tonnage in the global fleet, or 5,838 ships, now has scrubbers fitted, according to data from Clarksons Research.
HSFO represented 32.3% of Singapore's total demand last year – up from 29.2% in 2022, 25.8% in 2021 and 21.3% in 2020.
