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OW Bunker, one of the world’s leading suppliers and traders of marine fuel, today stated that ship owners and operators must focus their energies on effectively planning for the new Emissions Control Area (ECA) regulations in 2015, rather than hoping for a suspension or change from the 0.1% sulphur limit.

Speaking on the ‘changes and challenges’ that the industry faces at the 5th International Istanbul Bunker Conference, Søren Christian Mayer, Global Sales Director, OW Bunker, said: “There are factions within the industry that continue to lobby the IMO to change the regulation. This is giving false hope to ship owners and operators, which will lead to a dangerous state of apathy. Their attention should be focused on rigorously planning for the regulatory change, analysing every facet of their operations and trading routes and understanding how the 0.1% sulphur limit will impact their business.”

OW Bunker said it is in the process of conducting risk analysis assessments with a number of progressive customers to identify the regulatory impact and put in place solutions that manage the change.

Meyer said: “Our recommendation is to develop a comprehensive fuel procurement strategy over the next two years that will serve for a smooth transition in 2015. We are working with our customers to understand the impact of regulation on their entire business from a cost and technical perspective. This knowledge and insight is subsequently providing the foundation to implement effective solutions that are appropriate for their specific businesses.”

OW Bunker said it believes that a strong partnership between the ship owner/operator and fuel supplier is critical to achieving this. Meyer stated: “A quality fuel supplier should have the knowledge, technical insight and analysis methodology to work closely with their customers to help them develop a robust strategy for change. They must have a complete understanding of the ship owner/operator’s business, and a relationship that is founded on saving costs, maximising profitability and driving as much efficiency as possible into their customer’s operations.”

OW Bunker added that it thinks success will be based on combining a number of solutions: “We don’t believe there will be one silver bullet. Distillates are clearly an expensive option, and there are issues from a refining, supply and price perspective come 2025 based on the anticipated demand. Technology and innovation will also play a significant role, as will clean fuels such as LNG once the challenges of supply, infrastructure and the physical bunkering process are over come.”

Meyer concluded: “No solution can be implemented unless there is a total understanding of the challenge and impact on each individual business. This must be the starting point for ship owners and operators. Those that focus their energies on this and put in place a comprehensive fuel procurement strategy that meets the demand of their trading routes and manages their risk effectively will steal significant competitive advantage."