Safe Bulkers Takes On Four More Scrubbers

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday November 17, 2022

Dry bulk shipping company Safe Bulkers is set to take on emissions-cleaning scrubber systems for four more of its vessels.

The firm has already retrofitted 20 of its vessels with Alfa Laval PureSOx scrubbers, is in the process of installing a 21st system and will install four more before the end of next year, Alfa Laval said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The four vessels, all Capesize bulkers of about 180,000 DWT in capacity, are the MV Aghia Sofia, MV Lake Despina, MV Maria and MV Michalis H. Installations are scheduled for between November of this year and April 2023.

"When we first made the choice to retrofit Alfa Laval PureSOx systems in 2018, we were convinced that it was a good investment," Loukas Barmparis, president of Safe Bulkers, said in the statement.

"Today's increased price difference between low-sulphur and high-sulphur fuel shows that we were correct.

"We are protecting our margins in a time of uncertainty while simultaneously protecting the environment.

"Through comprehensive sampling of effluent wash water from open-loop scrubber systems, independent laboratories using EPA or ISO methods have shown that there is little or no impact from the wash water concentrations."

Scrubber installations have increased rapidly over the past two years, with wide HSFO-VLSFO price spreads this year in particular driving demand and increasing HSFO sales as the scrubber-equipped ships re-enter the market.

HSFO took up 30.8% of Singapore bunker sales in October, up from 27.8% a year earlier.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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