NINE months ahead of the introduction of the new IMO 2020 sulphur cap for marine fuel, the total number of scrubber orders for containerships has swelled to 540 units
NINE months ahead of the introduction of the new IMO 2020 sulphur cap for marine fuel, the total number of scrubber orders for containerships has swelled to 540 units. Additional orders have been unveiled since Alphaliner's last survey in November, with an expanding number of owners aiming to take advantage of the potential cost savings that the devices could bring.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) continues to lead the way and the total number of scrubbers ordered for its owned and chartered fleet now approaches an estimated 180 units.
The shipping line has already secured a US$439 million loan to fit 86 exhaust gas cleaning systems to its fleet, with additional scrubbers to be installed on a substantial number of MSC-chartered ships, says Alphaliner.
Evergreen has 90 scrubbers on order, including for newbuildings, and it will receive in May and June the first scrubber fitted mega-ship, a 20,388 TEU.
Ten of its 2,886 TEU B-class containerships have already been fitted with scrubbers, with more units on the way.
The Korean ocean liner Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) announced earlier this month that 41 of the containerships under its control will be equipped with scrubbers by mid-2021, comprising 20 newbuildings and 21 existing vessels. The figure includes two 11,000 TEU ships that were fitted with scrubbers last year.
Furthermore, HMM will have scrubbers installed on several long-term chartered ships, which could bring its total fleet of scrubber-fitted vessels to 50 units, Alphaliner estimates.
Maersk has already committed $263 million for the installation of scrubbers on 50 of its containerships, reversing its previous position to rely primarily on very low sulphur fuel to comply with the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations.
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