A bonanza in sales of exhaust gas scrubbers looks to be on the cards, according to one of the companies that is pioneering the technology. Following the IMO's ruling in April that scrubbing could be employed as a viable alternative to mandatory use of MDO as bunker fuel, Chris Leigh-Jones, MD of MK-basedKrystallon believes that a ￡3.5Bn ($6.9Bn) market for scrubbers could develop over the next seven years. The IMO ruling - anticipated to be fully approved in October - leads the way for stringent emission control areas (ECAs) in waters in Europe and North America with SO2 caps of 1% by 2010 and 0.5% by 2015. While the 2010 ruling could see ship operators continue to use cheaper fuel oil or bunker fuel, by 2015 fuelling in ECAs will mean competing with road transport and other sectors for diesel fuel that already trades at double bunker fuel prices.
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