By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) - Despite the recent introduction of low-sulphur regulations, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will continue to allow ships transiting the waterway to burn heavy fuel oil (HFO) without the need for scrubbers. Adding to the confusion for ship managers is a ban by the SCA on the discharge of wash water – used in the open-loop scrubber process – … [Read more...]
About The Loadstar
Another Challenging Year Ahead for Container Shipping, Drewry Says
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) - 2020 will prove another challenging year for ocean carriers in terms of capacity management, according to Drewry. Although the consultant claimed the industry would be able to cope. Drewry calculates that 1.2m teu of capacity will be added to the fleet this year, of which almost half comprises 23 20,000-plus teu ULCVs for HMM, CMA CGM and … [Read more...]
Rising Low-Sulphur Fuel Costs Begin to Bite Shipping Lines in Asia
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) - Although the 1 January switch to maximum 0.5% low-sulphur fuel for shipping appears to have passed without major disruption, liner consultancy Alphaliner has reported instances of idle containerships waiting for compliant fuel. The consultant said it had recorded “several cases of laden ships at anchor, apparently waiting for LSFO … [Read more...]
CMA CGM Leads Container Lines in Switch to LNG Fuel
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) - CMA CGM shortsea subsidiary Containerships has received its fourth LNG-powered vessel, the 1,380 teu Containerships Arctic. The vessel will bunker with approximately 200 tons of LNG at Rotterdam and will be deployed on the intra-European carrier’s Baltic service after a period covering for CMA CGM on its Baltic feeder service network. The … [Read more...]
Scrubber Queue Grows Ahead of IMO 2020
By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) - Another containership fitted with an exhaust gas cleaning system (scrubber) is added to the global fleet every 10 hours, according to Alphaliner data. However, the race to get scrubbers retrofitted on ships ahead of IMO 2020 regulations on 1 January has resulted in a significant extension of the budgeted downtime for many vessels. Some … [Read more...]