Scrubbers Seen as a Good Fit for Ropax

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday March 22, 2019

A large number of the recent raft of scrubber orders have been for large, deep sea vessels, where the benefits of burning large volumes of lower priced HSFO can be maximized.

But a report by Passenger Ship Technology, discussing comments by Robin Meech of Marine & Energy Consulting made at the recent Shippax ferry conference, suggests ropax ferries in particular could also benefit from using the technology.

One of the reasons is that many such vessels operate within emission control areas (ECAs), and Meech predicts 0.10% sulfur fuels could rise as much as 30% in response to IMO2020.

Land diesel prices will also rise, further raising costs for ropax operators that are integrated with road and rail transport.

Currently, only 3% of the global ropax fleet are equipped with scrubbers, according to the report.