Fuel-Blending System Promises ECA Compliance

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday August 15, 2013

A new fuel-blending system allows vessels that must occasionally travel through emission control areas (ECAs) to easily switch the sulfur content of their fuel, the product’s creator, Danish analysis and measurement instrument maker Insatech A/S, says in an emailed press release.

The S3 Smart Sulphur Switch costs about €140,000 ($187,000) and has minimal running costs, which the company said makes it a more cost-efficient solution than scrubbers in some cases.

The system can blend high- and low-sulfur bunkers to reach the desired sulfur content while also documenting the content level, allowing for the monitoring and control of sulfur emissions.

For example, Insatech said, a ship could carry 3.5 percent sulfur heavy fuel oil (HFO) and 0.1 percent sulfur marine gas oil (MGO) and blend the two fuels to reach 1.0 percent sulfur content for a lower price than 1 percent sulfur MGO.

In addition to ships that sometimes enter ECAs, a secondary market is ferry operators using scrubbers that cannot handle very high-sulfur content, since they can blend any available fuel oil with low-sulfur fuel to reach the level appropriate for their scrubbers.

In recent months, some observers, such as Nick Brown of Lloyd's Register, have said ship owners face a great deal of uncertainty over the best way to comply with ECA limits on sulfur.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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