07NOV2019 - NEWS - Scrubber benefits emerge as bunker fuel spread widens

Low-sulfur fuel remains more than double the price of its high-sulfur heavy oil counterpart, and should the spread remain the same through 2020 it will give carriers with a greater number of scrubber-fitted vessels a distinct operating cost advantage.

As carriers prepare their vessels for the IMO 2020 sulfur cap, carriers have three paths to compliance: use VLSFO, fit vessels with exhaust cleaning scrubbers, or use an alternative low-emission fuel such as LNG. The majority of the container shipping fleet will burn low-sulfur fuel, but a large percentage — as high as 20 percent, according to estimates — will be fitted with scrubbers, allowing these vessels to continue burning the traditional bunker fuel that is currently selling at a 50 percent discount to compliant fuels.