Earlier this year in New York City the There seems to be a fair amount of Aakre, Wärtsilä lutant, namely you remove the SOx … Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Associa- misunderstanding in the marketplace There are several. I think the biggest one which is a pollutant … and create sul-tion (EGCSA) held its annual meeting regarding scrubbers. What do you is that you move the pollution from the fate, which is not a pollutant, and you to discuss the business, technologies ? nd to be the biggest misconception? air to the water, which is not true. You release the sulfate to the water.and future of scrubbers as a solution to remove something that is a pollutant and the looming IMO 2020 fuel rules. At turn it into something that is not a pol- Confuorto, CR Ocean Engineeringthe meeting, Maritime Reporter & En-gineering News was afforded the op-portunity to pick the brains of several leading executives to help understand the challenge and promise that scrubbers provide.In October 2016 a landmark decision was handed down from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which set January 1, 2020 as implementation date for a signi? cant reduction in the sulfur content of the fuel oil used by ships. The new rule sets a global sulfur limit of 0.50% in 2020 versus 3.5% allowed to-day. Despite reservations from shipown-ers regarding the availability of the new fuel, which at the time of the announce-ment did not exist, and resistance to the capital expenditure of ? tting emission scrubbers, which reportedly can tip the CapEx scale at $10 million per ship, the rule is set to enter force without fail.“The entry into force of the 0.50% sulfur in fuel oil limit cannot and will not be delayed,” said Kitack Lim, IMO Secretary-General, during an interview with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in his of? ce at IMO headquarters in London in mid-March. A comprehen-sive study on availability of fuel oil was carried out by experts and overseen by a steering committee and it concluded there will be enough compliant fuel oil. “The study on the “Assessment of fuel oil availability” concluded that the re-? nery sector has the capability to sup-ply suf? cient quantities of marine fuels with a sulfur content of 0.50% m/m or less and with a sulfur content of 0.10% m/m or less to meet demand for these products, while also meeting demand for non-marine fuels.”For further insight on scrubbers as a solution – the misconceptions and the facts – Maritime Reporter interviews:• Stian Aakre, Wärtsilä; • Nick Confuorto, CR Ocean Engineering; • Nils Homburg, Saacke Marine Systems; and • Marcel Somers, Alfa Laval.A Wärtsilä V-SOx Scrubber being in-stalled on board the MV Tarago.www.marinelink.com 43MR #5 (42-49).indd 43 MR #5 (42-49).indd 43 6/4/2018 8:58:04 AM6/4/2018 8:58:04 AM