We have known it all along; the bigger the bunker fuel consumption of the ship, the more likely it is that shipowners will choose an SOx scrubber as the tool to comply with the IMO 2020 sulfur cap.
Whiles only three Handysize bulkers in total have been delivered from the newbuilding yards with a scrubber fitted in 2020, one in three Handymax bulkers were delivered with scrubbers installed.
Most scrubber-fitted bulkers were delivered in the Panamax sub-sector, that saw 81 units out of 150, equal to a share of 54%, confirming the clear-cut tendency among the newbuilt deliveries that we have seen during the first 11 months of 2020.
When considering the share of scrubber-fitted ships within the large sub-sectors, comprising of capesize, Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC) and Valemax, that share ranges between 85% and 100%. In just 13 cases out of the 96 ships that burn the most fuel, the shipowner opted for using Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO), instead of making the scrubber investment.
“Clearly, the marine bunker fuel price spread between low sulfur fuels and heavy sulfur fuels has been lower than initially expected. Currently at $72 per MT in Singapore, the spread is a far cry from the pre-IMO 2020 average of USD 185 per MT seen between 1 August and 31 December 2019,” said Peter Sand, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst.
(Source: BIMCO)