Page 23 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 01.19

“There are no difficulties with gas propulsion”
Interview with Ralf Nagel, Chief Executive Officer of the VDR – German Shipowners’ Association, on IMO 2020, alternative propulsion systems and the Hong Kong Convention.
Port of Hamburg Magazine: Herr Nagel, the IMO – International Maritime Organization has laid down that from 2020, worldwide the propor- tion of sulphur in marine fuels may no longer exceed a maximum of 0.5 percent. What does this mean for shipowners?
Nagel: The new cap for sulphur is a further step to- wards withdrawal from heavy oil of the usual type, and is completely accepted by the industry. Some companies are equipping their vessels with exhaust gas cleaning units known as scrubbers. Others will be using a mixture of oils that ultimately only contain a maximum 0.5 percent of sulphur, or MDO - Marine
Diesel Oil, which contains substantially less sulphur but is far costlier compared to heavy oil. From March 2020 ships without scrubbers may no longer trans- port heavy oil.
What will happen with the heavy oil that many vessels will still be holding until then?
Well, that’s more complicated than an outsider can imagine. After all, there is capital tied up there. It’s obvious that fresh oil cannot simply be poured into tanks that previously contained old, heavy oil. The challenges have been recognized and we must meet them. Full stop! It is essential that port states should
FUTURE PORT ■
Port of Hamburg Magazine | March 2019 | 23