IMO 2020 And Liberia's Stance

Last week, the Liberian flag state called for the IMO to issue a resolution or circular requiring early reporting of low-sulphur fuel availability by member states.  From the flag state's point of view, littoral states should be doing more to assist shipowners and, by extension, time charterers in planning for compliance with the 1 January 2020 deadline for the global reduction of sulphur content (down to 0.5 per cent m/m) in marine fuels.

The timing coincides with the widespread understanding that unless an owner has already committed to fitting approved abatement technology (in accordance with the carve-out at Reg. 4 of Annex VI to MARPOL), it is almost certainly now too late to complete the installation and approval process before the 1 January 2020 deadline.  In other words, for such owners, there is no avoiding a compliant fuel strategy come that deadline.