Shipping sector gears itself for new emissions regulations

[nitpicker]

https://www.dw.com/en/shipping-sector-gears-itself-for-new-emissions-regulations/a-50836212

Shipping sector gears itself for new emissions regulations

Money makes the world go round, they say. It would surely be as accurate to say the same of ships.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body tasked with the regulation of global shipping, more than 90% of the world's trade is carried by sea. It's by far the cheapest way to transport goods and raw materials around the world.

But it is one of the world's most polluting industries.

According to the most recent IMO Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Study in 2014, maritime transport emits around 940 million tons of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

But there's another huge environmental problem wrought by the industry — the amount of hazardous sulphur dioxide (SO2) emitted by ships as they travel from port to port across the world's oceans. Through the industry's use of cheaper, lower-quality high-sulphur fuel oil, marine shipping accounts for 13% of all SO2 emissions, in contrast to the 5% of world oil demand it accounts for.

That's why new environmental rules regulating shipping emissions due to come into effect next year could have a profound effect on the highly polluting sector. The effect may not just be environmental; given the costs involved, and the extent to which the whole business of shipping freight affects practically all businesses, the global economy may feel the impact.

From January 1, 2020, ships will be required by the IMO to reduce SO2 emissions by more than 80%. The options for doing so vary, from installing sulphur-removing technology known as scrubbers to moving away from oil-based fuel entirely. What doesn't vary all that much is the cost — complying with the new rules will be expensive.

Back in May, a shipping executive at the US-listed Star Bulk Carriers told the Financial Times that installing exhaust cleaning units on 100 of his company's vessels had cost $170 million (€154 million) alone.
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S&P Global Platts, an energy consultancy, conducted a study which put the cost of the rule changes on the global economy at $1 trillion over five years.
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For years, the shipping sector has taken the dirtiest oil from the world's producers, the stuff left over after the more refined produce has been taken for petroleum.

That means companies such as Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, have long thrived with the lower costs of high-sulphur fuel. The Danish company estimates that switching to marine gas-oil in order to comply with the IMO ruling would result in a $2 billion rise in annual fuel costs.
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