Finnish oil and renewable fuel producer Neste is launching a new marine fuel to help shipping companies comply with new low-sulphur global regulations coming into force on 1 January next year.
“Neste Marine 0.5, containing 0.5% maximum sulphur, will be introduced to the market during the fourth quarter of 2019,” the company said on 15 August. “By choosing this fuel, shipping companies will have a solution which is easy to switch to, and guarantees immediate compliance with the global sulphur cap.”
The United Nation’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) is tightening limits on global sulphur dioxide emissions. On 1 January 2020, the sulphur cap for marine fuels will drop from 3.5% to 0.5% in areas outside current emission control areas (Baltic Sea, North Sea, North America and US Caribbean), where the sulphur limit is 0.1%.
In order to comply, ship owners must either use low-sulphur fuel, install scrubbers on their ships to clean up emissions, or switch to alternative fuels.
“Neste Marine 0.5 meets the stricter legislative requirements for maritime sulphur emissions,” said Marko Pekkola, executive vice president of oil products at Neste.
The fuel would be manufactured in Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland and available in Northwest Europe. The exact locations and the product’s technical specification would be released later this year, the company said.
Neste produces, refines and markets petroleum oil products and is also the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel produced from vegetable oils and waste and residue materials such as used cooking oil.
