Drewry: Surcharges Could Spike by 60%

Global shipping consultancy Drewry has revealed that 33% of ship owners and Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs) have poor or very poor awareness of the upcoming International Maritime Rules on sulphur emissions.

In its ‘IMO 2020 Low Emissions Regulation Survey’, Drewry says that the uncertainty means nobody can accurately forecast the cost of compliance – with the only thing they can confidently predict is that it will stretch into the tens of billions.

The price of low-sulphur fuels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), per tonne could rise by as much as 55%, with fuel surcharges spiking 60% by the time the new rules on sulphur emission come into force on January 1 2020.

Philip Dama, Head of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors, commented: At Drewry we are always keen to listen to the concerns of the market and help facilitate dialogue between stakeholders on complex subjects of common interest like the IMO rule.

“The IMO low-sulphur rule change represents a very significant, industry-wide, change event which will likely have far reaching effects on the global shipping industry for many years to come.

“Given the scale of the extra costs triggered by the new regulation and the carriers’ expectations that their pricing and fuel charge mechanism with customers must be restructured, there is a need for carriers to address the transparency concerns expressed by their customers.”