Prepare for over a Decade of Combined Environmental Regulatory Burden, Peninsula Petroleum Warns

The shipping industry should prepare for over a decade of environmental regulatory burden. File Image / Pixabay

As the industry focuses on 2020 and the introduction of a 0.50% sulfur cap on marine fuel, Will Bathurst, Head of Credit & Market Analysis at bunker supplier Peninsula Petroleum, has warned that this is just the beginning of what will be over a decade of environmental regulatory burden.

The comments came during his presentation titled "2020 – The next step in emissions legislation but not the last" during this week's London International Shipping Week.

In addition to highlighting the compliance choices owners and operators will have come 2020 - all of which have been discussed at length in these pages - Bathurst said the overall compliance cost will push up seaborne freight rates especially for long haul voyages, and increase the call on bunker credit lines.

He also noted that at the recent 71st session of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC 71), efforts to issue guidance on best practice to assist fuel oil purchasers and users in assuring the quality of the fuel oil delivered to and used on-board ships had been postponed.

The matter will be revisited at MEPC 72.

But perhaps most importantly, he highlighted that the latest SOX regs were just the beginning of what seems to be an inevitable and iterative approach to tackling various emissions from shipping.

"Shipping firms need to look beyond the very real challenges of SOX regulation and consider the likely NOX / Greenhouse / Particulate regulations on the way," Bathurst said.

And while questions are still to be answered on global enforcement of such regulations, ultimately, successful enforcement of those regulations will prompt demolition of older vessels, and pose a problem for refiners, he concluded.