EMEA News
Wartsila: Scrubber Boost to Latest Results
Strong scrubber demand from shipowners as they wake up to the impending bunker fuel sulfur rule change has supported Finnish engineering company Wartsila's third quarter results.
The company saw pre-tax profit rise by EUR 20 million ($23m) to EUR 130 million in the third quarter compared to same period a year ago.
"The approaching IMO 2020 sulphur regulations have resulted in increased demand for exhaust gas cleaning systems," head of the company Jaakko Eskola said.
The part of the company responsible for exhaust gas cleaning units, which are also known as scrubbers, saw total third quarter order intake at EUR 525 million compared to EUR 339 million, a 55% rise.
"Among the orders received were a considerable number of exhaust gas cleaning system orders for newbuilds," Wartsila said.
"Ordering activity was particularly strong in the cruise and ferry segment, which represented 30% of the third quarter order intake," it added.
While shipowners and operators have hesitated over how best to respond to the International Maritime Organisation regulation, in recent months interest in scrubbers has become pronounced.
From 2020, the sulfur content of bunker fuel falls from 3.5% to 0.5%.
