World News
Study Confirms Sharp Drop in Shipping Sulfur Emissions After IMO 2020
Sulfur emissions from ships have fallen sharply since the IMO’s sulfur rule of 0.5% for ships came into force in 2020, according to a new study.
The research, led by the UK’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science and published in Environmental Science: Atmospheres, analysed shipping emissions between 2019 and 2023 across the North-East Atlantic and European coastal waters.
Researchers used aircraft and ground-based instruments to directly sample ship exhaust plumes, measuring sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These observations were combined with emissions modelling to assess changes in fuel sulfur levels before and after the IMO 2020 regulation.
The study found that ships operating on the open ocean were burning bunker fuel with roughly ten times less sulfur after the new limit came into force.
The findings support earlier estimates that sulfur emissions from international shipping have fallen by around sevenfold since IMO 2020.
"Shipping is the most important human source of sulfur in marine environments, largely found as sulfur dioxide, and is estimated to be responsible for around 13% of global sulfur emissions," Professor Hugh Coe, atmospheric composition research scientist at NCAS and the University of Manchester, said.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 438.50 | 2.00 | 667.50 | 8.50 |
| Rotterdam | 407.00 | 1.00 | 646.00 | 3.50 |
| Houston | 436.50 | 0.50 | 661.50 | 7.50 |
| Fujairah | 435.00 | 4.00 | 723.50 | 5.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 472.50 | 2.00 | 752.00 | 3.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 429.00 | 1.00 | 674.50 | 4.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 519.00 | 1.00 | 796.00 | 0.00 |
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