04JUN2019 - NEWS - Matson to retrofit six more ships with scrubbers

Matson Inc. has begun the installation of exhaust gas scrubbers on six vessels deployed in its Hawaii and China-Long Beach Express services as part of its strategy to comply with the IMO 2020 sulfur cap. Three of the vessels will receive the new equipment in 2019 and the remaining three in 2020. Matson says that while new low-sulfur fuels designed to meet the new IMO emission standard have been in development for years in anticipation of the change, there is still uncertainty about their costs and availability. Although liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an alternative, the company says the infrastructure for production and distribution remains insufficient to support its operations in the Pacific.

As part of its IMO 2020 strategy, Matson embarked on a fleet renewal program, replacing older vessels with four new ships that are equipped with dual-fuel engines designed to run on new low-sulfur fuels or LNG.

The other main component of Matson’s strategy involves expanded use of exhaust gas cleaning systems. It installed scrubber systems on three vessels in its Alaska fleet in 2015 and 2016, and says the success of that project became the foundation of its IMO 2020 compliance strategy.

Published by Editor - www.Livebunkers.com at 04-Jun-2019 03:32:46 [UTC] , contact editor at editor@livebunkers.com