Cost of IMO 2020 to MSC: $2 Billion

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday December 4, 2018

The 0.5% sulfur cap on bunker fuel will add $2 billion to the box shipping firm MSC's annual fuel bill, the company has said.

In response, the company said it will introduce a bunker charge from the start of next year, according to Reuters.

The estimated $2 billion figure includes changes to its fleet as well the supply of fuel.

"MSC has estimated that the cost of the various changes we are making to our fleet and its fuel supply is in excess of two billion dollars (USD) per year. We have already had to start incurring these costs to be ready for 2020," the group was quoted as saying from a recent note.

A company spokesperson quoted by Reuters said: "Clearly, MSC will need to use a large amount of low-sulphur fuels to propel the fleet, in order to meet the 2020 low-sulphur cap.

"At the same time, a significant portion of MSC's owned ships will be equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems.

"For a shipping line of our size, with a global network, it makes sense to have a combination of these solutions."

The 0.5% global sulfur cap comes into force from the start of 2020.  MSC is in the top three container ship operators globally.