Stena Bulk Joins the Scrubber Ordering Wave

Swedish tanker shipping company Stena Bulk has signed a turnkey exhaust gas scrubber solution agreement with Chinese Bluesoul to equip its Suezmax and IMOIIMAX fleets.

In total, Stena Bulk will equip 15 vessels with scrubbers and have an additional 6 options for installation prior to 2020, the enforcement date of the global sulphur cap.

As disclosed, Shanghai Bluesoul Environment Technology has had a collaboration agreement with the Stena group for more than a year. It is the first Chinese enterprise to be awarded Lloyd’s Register Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Machinery General Design Appraisal as well as DNV GL and ABS AiP.

“By installing scrubbers, we will be well equipped to meet the 2020 regulation and are protected from price volatility as well as fuel shortage. In relation to market developments, today’s market predictions  are attractive in theory and currently seems to be so in practice too, despite there being a couple of parameters that remain uncertain. However, there are opportunities already available today to lock in some of the uncertainty, which might be appealing when looking for a more secure investment,” Erik Hånell, President & CEO Stena Bulk, said.

The scrubber to be installed is an open loop hybrid ready with water cleaning, which removes the sulfur and particles from the exhaust.

The second wave of scrubber ordering has seen over 1,000 scrubber projects confirmed over the past six months, mainly driven by the upcoming enforcement of the 2020 sulphur cap, according to the data from DNV GL.