Sulphur 2020

At the 70th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), in October 2016, it was confirmed that 1 January 2020 would be retained as the start date for the 0.50% max sulphur fuel oil requirement under Regulation 14.1.3 of MARPOL Annex VI. This covers all fuel oils used by ships outside the existing ECA for SOx emissions (Baltic, North Sea, North America & US Caribbean) where the limit remains at the level at which it has been since 1 January 2015: 0.10% max sulphur.
Given that MEPC has now confirmed its decision and the MARPOL amendment timescales, it must be understood that compliance on 1 January 2020 is now unalterably fixed. While MEPC and the Pollution, Prevention, Response (PPR) subcommittee are considering means to assist in the consistent implementation of this 0.50% max sulphur limit, this cannot in any way change or soften that date.

On the matter of safety we have been and remain at the forefront of industry forums and activities relating to safe implementation of 2020. We have been helping our marine industry clients in managing the challenges of reducing SOx emissions since the regulations first came into effect in 2005.
Applying this experience and expertise, we can advise you at every stage in the asset lifecycle, from initial technical and economic analyses to feasibility studies and risk assessments for specific vessels. We can also help you plan and implement the appropriate onboard fuel management procedures for your chosen compliance strategy.

Lloyd's Register has developed a free evaluation tool in response to many enquiries from our clients to help them assess their possible routes to  compliance with the global sulphur in fuel oil limit of 0.50% by 2020.

The benefit of each of the different compliance strategies will be unique to each ship owner, as the options are dependent on the ship type, as well as numerous other operational and economic variables.

This tool aims to give a high-level indication on the operating cost and investment implications of different compliance strategies, such as transitioning from high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) to low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), use of distillates, use of exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) or use of other compliant fuels, such as LNG or methanol. It allows the user to change some of these critical variables to assess and compare the commercial impact and the annual SOx and CO2 emissions of each of these options.

Certain industry validated assumptions underpin the outputs of this tool and should therefore only be used as an initial, high-level assessment. If you would like to carry out a more bespoke, techno-economic analysis to support and validate the decision-making process for an investment, then please contact your local Lloyd’s Register office, or use the request for information button to request further support and information.