(SINGAPORE and LONDON) — The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will not delay implementing a 0.5 percent sulfur limit for marine fuel in 2020, officials with the United Nations’ shipping agency said Tuesday, Reuters reported.
“I can categorically say there will not be a delay,” said Edmund Hughes, the head of air pollution and energy efficiency at the IMO, during the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.
From 2020, IMO rules will ban ships from using fuels with a sulfur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, unless they are equipped with scrubbers to clean up sulfur emissions. This will be enforced by fines levied by the IMO’s member states.
The IMO regulations will create a level playing field for the global shipping industry and if it were to back down, it could lead different rules being implemented in different regions, creating greater levels of uncertainty for the global industry, Hughes said.
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