Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry Dalian (Cosco Dalian), a subsidiary yard of China Cosco Shipping, has entered into an agreement with Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to collaborate in a scrubber demonstration test project onto a large vessel owned by Cosco Shipping.
According to MHI, its new product SO x Scrubber can be accommodated in limited installation space onboard and reduce sulfur dioxide in the exhaust gas of 3.5%-sulfur-content fuels to that of 0.1%-sulfur-content fuels, conforming with the 2020 IMO regulations on sulfur emissions.
Going forward, MHI and Cosco Dalian will also proceed in discussions with regards to the manufacturing and sales collaborations related to the rectangular scrubbers.
As the new IMO regulations on sulfur emissions will come into effect in January 2020, there have been debates in the shipping sector on whether scrubbers should be used to meet the new regulations.
In May, shipping consultancy firm Drewry dismissed scrubbers as a “messy answer” in shipping’s ongoing search to reduce emissions.
