The issue of scrubber technology and the number of vessels fitted with the water-wash systems used to remove air pollutants from bunker fuel emissions has sparked lively debate.Scrubber technology is the preferred method for many lines to comply with the sulphur restriction imposed from January 1 by the International Maritime Organization, commonly called IMO2020.It’s the number of vessels equipped with the system that is in question.In a recent article FTW was told that more than 3000 vessels had been equipped with scrubbers.Marketing head in South Africa for Ocean Network Express (ONE), Iain Mcintosh, said hard facts about global liner figures proved that it wasn’t possible that so many vessels could have been fitted with scrubbers. “The global f leet totalled 5337 vessels as of the first of January this year.“So scrubber fitment would be nearly 60% of the total global f leet,” Mcintosh commented.He said that “as of 10 December last year the total number of container vessels fitted with scrubber technology was 212 vessels – new and retrofitted – totalling 1.79 million TEU c a r r ier s”.It equates to “5.9% of total vessels or 11.8% of capacity”, he said.For the most part, Mcintosh explained, newbuilds came fitted with scrubbers and a lot of large vessels were being retrofitted.“There are currently about 100 vessels at any one time being fitted with scrubbers in yards.“The expectation is that by the end of 2022 maybe 1000 vessels, or 20% of the global f leet, could be fitted with scrubbers but it will also depend on the price difference between fitting these systems and the use of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO).”And although scrubber fitment remains a more affordable method of complying with IMO2020, the price difference between scrubbers and LSFO is apparently narrowing.
