EMEA News
Is "the Right Attitude" Enough to Make IMO 2020 Work?
A shipping writer has questioned the readiness of the smaller shipping companies to cope with IMO 2020.
In an opinion piece for shipping publication Lloyd's List, Richard Clayton, who is its chief correspondent, said that the attitude of smaller shipowners to making the new sulfur cap work may leave something to be desired.
Citing the recent International Bunkering Industry Association conference in Copenhagen, Clayton noted that Denmark's local shipping community has accepted the change, as has IBIA itself.
"There is an air of wonder among IBIA members that the issues are continuing to drag on," he wrote.
If the right attitude, as was suggested at the conference, will get the job done, the job being making IMO 2020 work, then why are not all shipowners singing the same tune? Because not all shipowners are equally well placed.
"Shipowners with minimal technical resources, struggling to stay financially stable and facing the likelihood of switching from high-sulphur fuel oil to very low-sulphur fuel oil, are probably not sleeping at night."
Clayton believes that your view of IMO 2020's inevitability, in part, depends on where you are viewing it from.
"It would have been interesting to hold IBIA 2018 in a city where the maritime community is just about managing.
"There, the inevitability of 2020 would not be so clear."
From the start of 2020, the global fleet must use bunker fuel capped at 0.5% sulfur or have the necessary equipment in place to meet that limit.
