October, 2019 - Sulphur Series 07: Fuel quality issues
The first IMO 2020 compliant low sulphur fuels (“LSFO”) are starting to be trialled and appear on the market, but at present it is still really anyone’s guess as to how these new types of fuels will behave. Linked with this uncertainty are a myriad of potential concerns as to fuel quality and handling issues.
Low sulphur MARPOL compliant fuels could be residual,distillate or blended products. Blended residual grades areexpected to be the predominant compliant products initiallyavailable. However, the quality, availability and quantity ofthese different types of fuel are currently unknown, and immediately after 1 January, 2020 these factors are likely to vary considerably between individual ports. This will pose a particular issue for ships operating in tramp trades.
In this article we outline some practical and contractual precaution that can be taken to minimise risk and scope for disputes.