Bunkering at the Port ofRotterdam Photo: Freek van Arkel/Hollandse Hoogte

Low sulphur gas is verifying to be ‘extremely popular in Rotterdam, Europe’ s biggest bunkering center, with even more fifty percent of all November shelter sales attributable to 2020 certified Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO).

The memorable change includes much less than one month to precede the target date for the IMO 2020.5 percent sulphur cap. Under the brand-new guidelines, using high-sulphur gas by ships will just be allowed on vessels that have actually scrubbers set up aboard. The present optimum sulphur web content is 3.5 percent.

According to the Port of Rotterdam, VLSFO sales raised considerably over the previous pair months, with September sales striking 1,700 tonnes, October at 32,000 tonnes, and also November at 95,000 tonnes.

These numbers stand for the remarkable surge of VLSFO as a percent of Rotterdam’s complete gas oil sales, according to the port. “This means that the VLSFO percentage within total fuel oil sales grew from 1.8% in September to 51.6% in November,” the Port of Rotterdam Authority stated in a declaration.

The Port of Rotterdam is beginning to track bunkering sales with its exclusive TimeToBunker application, which was introduced in February and also has actually been acquiring grip in advance of the IMO 2020 target date. The application permits clients to track gas oil sulphur degrees, unlike its typical bunkering notices.

“The TimeToBunker App has been used since February and is a huge success. Over a third of all bunkering notifications run via the app,” stated Ronald Backer, Rotterdam’s bunkering professional. “I see no factor to think that business that still make conventional bunkering notices have totally various customers with totally various gas oil acquiring behavior.’