Indian shipping companies, reeling under low freight rates and high fuel prices, will face further cost pressure due to new emission norms set by International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Shipping firms, including the country’s largest – Shipping Corporation of India – may have to spend more than 1 crore per ship to lower sulphur content in bunker fuel.
“We have to spend more than 1 crore per ship to convert the fuel type to adapt to the requirements in Europe and US. We have a number of vessels and cost of conversion per ship could be large,” said Sunil Thapar, head of tanker and bulk division, SCI.
The new emission standards for cargo ships and oil tankers, which are a significant source of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, are likely to be effective by end-2011 or early-2012.
Emission from ships has doubled since 1990 and will continue to grow at 2.5% per year, said industry experts. Greenhouse gas emission from ships is estimated to grow more than 150% this year compared with 2007.
In August, IMO came out with the new emission norms amid rising pollution by sewage from ships around Caribbean Sea and Baltic Sea.
Many nations will have to change their existing emission laws to comply with global standards, said analysts. “While the norm is being stringently followed in Europe and the US, we will see many of the countries modeling themselves on the EU norms in the next few years,” said Nikhil Jain, research manager with London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants.
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