bunker fuel

Trump administration may struggle to obstruct IMO 2020

The International Maritime Organization is much like the large commercial ships it regulates in one respect: while slow to get moving in the first place, it can be difficult to stop once its inertia has been overcome.

This is the problem the US delegation at the UN body may face at a key meeting being held October 22-26, if it seeks to put obstacles in the way of tighter marine fuel sulfur emission limits.

The IMO’s global sulfur cap is due to drop from 3.5% to 0.5% at the start of 2020, with...

http://blogs.platts.com/2018/10/19/trump-administration-may-struggle-to-obstruct-imo-2020/

Will 2020 be a game changer for bunker credit?

The twin pressures of tough financial times for the shipping industry and the likelihood of more expensive fuel in 2020 are bringing the issue of bunker fuel bills into focus for the industry.

Many shipowners and operators have gone through difficult times since the global economic crash of 2008. There have been numerous bankruptcies, heavy losses, and the revaluation of assets on balance sheets across the industry.

This has not just affected small companies. Perhaps the most prominent failure of...

http://blogs.platts.com/2018/09/14/2020-game-changer-bunker-credit/

The great scrubber conundrum

It’s been six months since my last 2020 dispatch. Since then, I’ve spent time at major industry gatherings in London (IP week) and Athens (Posidonia) and yet I’m just as uncertain about 2020 as I was then. My only comfort is that judging by my numerous conversations at Posidonia, I’m far from alone.

By now, anyone remotely involved in shipping should know about the importance of January 1, 2020 — the date environmental restrictions on sulfur content in bunker fuel come into effect. Some still...

http://blogs.platts.com/2018/06/19/great-scrubber-conundrum/

Uncertainty looms over marine fuel sulfur limit: Fuel for Thought

In about 20 months, the shipping industry is going to start burning a fuel that today they know next to nothing about.

The International Maritime Organization has set a January 2020 deadline for a new 0.5% sulfur limit on marine fuels. The move is poised to force most shipowners to switch from burning residual fuel oil to a new, unfamiliar, less-sulfurous product.

A study by CE Delft, commissioned by the IMO in 2016 before it decided to cap the sulfur limit, shows demand for less-than 0.5% sulfur...

http://blogs.platts.com/2018/04/02/uncertainty-looms-marine-fuel-sulfur-limit/

Why the container industry needs to replace BAF with a new pricing tool

The container industry has an elephant in the room. It’s big, smelly and has some serious boundary issues. Its name is the Bunker Adjustment Factor and recently it has grown so large that market players can barely see each other behind its fat bulk.

It creates a lot of uncertainty and engenders a lack of trust in the supply chain, which is dangerous for everyone be it a carrier, a BCO or a logistics provider.

With the prospect of volatile times ahead, and bunker prices likely to take the...

http://blogs.platts.com/2018/03/21/container-industry-needs-replace-baf-new-pricing-tool/

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