---

As shipping turns to slow steaming to reduce costs and faces increased emissions control measures, the process and challenge of procuring marine lubricants has taken on greater complexity and significance, Total Lubmarine, one of the world’s leading global supplier of marine lubricants and greases, said today.

The North American Emissions Control Area (ECA), which will be effective from 2012, will impact around 50 percent of maritime traffic, forcing ship owners and operators not typically operating in ECAs to begin use of lower basicity cylinder lubricants required for lower sulphur fuels. According to Lubmarine, this increasing trend is likely to create issues for ship owners and operators when leaving ECAs, as lower BN lubricants are not best suited to operation with higher sulphur fuels outside ECA boundaries.

Moreover, Lubmarine points out that the use of lower basicity cylinder lubricants within ECAs runs directly counter to the lubrication requirements for slow steaming or other conditions outside ECAs, which conversely require owners and operators to run specific lubricants.

"With rising bunker prices and growing charterer pressure to reduce costs, slow steaming looks set to stay. Most container vessels have cut cruising speeds from 22-25 knots to 18-20 knots, but in the case of extra slow steaming, to as low as 8-12 knots, which significantly increases stresses and strains on a two or four stroke marine engine," Lubmarine said.

Patrick Havil, Global Marketing Manager, Total Lubmarine, commented: “We know that ship operators are under pressure to deliver against current and impending Sulphur Oxide (SOx) and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) regulations, reduce bunker fuel costs through slow steaming and meet safety standards to protect both their workforce and the environment. At the same time they need to maintain a clear competitive advantage through reliable, consistent operations and ensuring profitability. Faced with this, the industry needs a new generation of marine lubricants that not only offer significant cost savings and better performance, but are also compatible with different levels of sulphur, and the great demand for slow steaming.”

Total Lubmarine says it has been addressing these issues for some time and developed 'the complete solution' to this two-fold challenge. Its cylinder oil, Talusia Universal, is said to have been tested extensively against both high and low levels of sulphur heavy fuel oil (HFO) and to have been validated by customers using distillates and slow steaming.

Havil added: “We’re confident this product will effectively future-proof all vessels and is a significant step forward for the industry. Talusia Universal is the only lubricant compatible with fuel at all sulphur levels, meaning that the need to switch lubricants when moving in and out of an ECA is completely removed.

"Based on this, we are already developing the perfect lubricant for the 2015 market that will give optimal performance with the highest sulphur content HFO right down to lower sulphur content fuels.”