A little know medical paper published in 2015 threatens to undermine the scientific foundations that support the use of low sulphur fuel in shipping
On January 1 2020 shipping will awake to a new fuel regime where all ships must use a fuel which has a sulphur content of less than 0.5%. The exceptions are the emission control areas, where vessels in those waters need to use a fuel with a sulphur content of less than 0.1%.
Of course, anyone working in shipping will know that there are about 1,000 vessels exhaust gas cleaning systems, often called scrubbers, that allow the ships to use residual (heavy fuel) oils with a much higher sulohur content as the technology removes the sulphur oxides from the exhaust fyumes. There are also a similar number of vessels either in service, or about to be delivered, that can use liquid natural gas as a fuel. Nevertheless this amounts to the majority of vessels, particularly those in internaiotnalt rade, required to use low sulpohur fuels as of 2020.
However a little known academic paper raises some serious questions about the health benefits of the switch.
While at the Fathom Fleet Transformation Event in London last week, Dr Matt Loxham from the University of Southampton said a paper published in 2015 raises questions about the health impact of a large scale increase in using diesel fuels in shipping.
The paper in question is called “Particulate Matter from Both Heavy Fuel Oil and Diesel Fuel Shipping Emissions Show Strong Biological Effects on Human Lung Cells at Realistic and Comparable In Vitro Exposure Conditions”
Dr Loxham admits the paper by itself is not enough to turn back the clock on the pending IMO regulations but questions were raised over the continued use of hydrocarbon fuels in shipping. Dr Loxham also pointed out that there are other health and environmental benefits in the move to reduce the use of heavy fuel oils which contribute to other types of pollution and heath issues. However his suggestion is that in terms of health benefits, the switch may not be as clear cut as industry has been led to believe.
The switch
Talking in a second session on fuels John Sterling from World Fuel Services said owners are still failing to account for the big changes that the industry is facing. The 2020 switch will see the annual demand of 132 million tonnes of residual fuel oil switch to a demand of a similar amount of low sulphur compliant fuels, he says, quoting statistics from one of the industry’s most well respected fuel experts, Robin Meech.
With only a fraction of the fuel oils being made for shipping able to be blended, it will create a huge surplus of fuel oil that will need to be utilised elsewhere, and a surge in demand for new fuels, said Sterling.
There will be a large number of new fuels that will meet the 0.5% cap he said, but owners need to be aware that they are not all compatible, nor globally available. Issue such as the fuel stock being shared with other transportation modes will inevitably see an increase in biofuel contamination (many countries have a regulated percentage biofuel mixed into road fuels) which creates hug problems if any water is also mixed into the fuel.
He said that while he has been having an increased number of meetings with some proactive owners, he feels many are sleepwalking into the deadline unaware of how limited their choices will be if they wait too late.
Fathom-News.com
