EMEA News
Port of Rotterdam: Ships Will Choose MGO For 2015 ECA Compliance
As ship owners prepare for the new limits on sulfur emissions next year, adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and scrubbers is moving slowly, Port of Rotterdam officials said on a Platts podcast.
"This will mean that gas oil will be the bunker fuel of choice in the emissions control area (ECA)," said Ronald Backers, liquid bulk business development leader for the port, who was speaking ahead of Platts' 5th Annual European Bunker Fuel Conference in Rotterdam on May 22-23.
"People will start sourcing gas oil."
Jaap van Dalen, the port's oil and refining business manager, said bunker deliveries overall have been down in recent years, but Rotterdam remains Europe's main port for bunkering.
The port officials said Rotterdam is preparing for increased use of LNG and will provide both fuelling infrastructure and incentives for ships that switch to the fuel next year.
Although the vast majority of bunkers moving through the port now are fuel oil, the officials predict 7 to 12 million metric tonnes (mt) of overall demand will switch to fuel oil, and Rotterdam's position will allow it to serve as a hub to take deliveries of the fuel and re-export it to other parts of Europe.
The owners of Rotterdam's Gate LNG terminal said in July that they are seeing strong demand for LNG bunkers.
