Greek owner Safe Bulkers has entered in an agreement with Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry for the installation of Alfa Laval PureSOx scrubbers in about half of the company’s fleet, mainly in medium sized vessels, to comply with the upcoming IMO regulations on sulphur emissions.
The company will install scrubbers in five kamsarmax vessels, 13 post-panamax vessels and in the recently acquired capesize vessel while it maintains an option for an additional scrubber.
The other half of the company’s fleet consisting mainly of smaller, fuel efficient vessels will adopt low sulphur fuels.
The first installation is scheduled in the second quarter of 2019 and the last installation in the fourth quarter of 2019. The cost for the project is expected to be about $2m per vessel.
“The retrofit of scrubbers is a demanding job involving the selection of reliable and durable equipment from manufacturer with extensive track record, detailed engineering studies and high quality of installation which should lead to reliable operations for years to come. Our technical department has worked extensively in all those areas in order to make possible the timely delivery at the required standards, within the budgeted costs for nineteen vessels with scrubbers within 2019, minimizing the down time. We are happy to cooperate with Cosco and Alfa Laval for this project and we believe that we will enjoy a short pay-back period for this investment based on price differential between HFO and compliant fuels after January 1, 2020,” said Loukas Barmparis, president of Safe Bulkers.
