Vlogs

An overview of the changes to international regulations which comes into force at the start of 2020 and a look at the possible negative impacts it will have on shipping lines, terminal operators and shippers. This change is an amendment to the IMO’s MARPOL Convention and requires all ships sailing in international waters from the 1st January 2020 to reduce the amount of sulphur oxides present in their exhaust gases. This is aimed at improving the environment around ports and waterways, and requires ships to use either more expensive low sulphur fuel oil or other technologies to reduce the level of pollutants in their exhaust gases. This will have an immediate impact on container services as a rise in fuel costs will cause shipping lines to increase freight rates and sail slower to reduce fuel consumption. This will impact schedule reliability and may well have a knock-on impact on terminals if more ships arrive off schedule or if shipping lines drop port calls by altering their rotation schedules