Global regulations to reduce the sulphur content in marine fuels could lead to a rise in shipping rates by spurring tanker operators to slow down to save on fuel. The so-called Marpol rules will cap the sulphur content of fuel at 0.5pc, down from 3.5pc now, leading to higher fuel bills for tanker operators starting in 2020 if not before. 'If everyone starts having to burn $600/t fuel overnight in a low [demand] market, as was the case in 2011-12, I think the whole fleet slows down from 13 knots to 11 knots,' Vivek Srivastava of SSY Consultancy and Research said at the Argus Marpol Strategy Summit in Houston.
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