News / IMO 2020 fuel restriction may prove a ‘windfall’ for the charter market

The Danaos-owned CMA CGM Rabelais © Atgimages

MSC, Maersk, Cosco and CMA CGM are among ocean carriers that expect to temporarily increase their capacity this year to mitigate the downtime as ships are retrofitted with scrubbers, or for the decontamination of tanks to accommodate compliant fuels, ahead of IMO 2020.

Notwithstanding seasonal supply and demand drivers, containership owners are anticipating a charter market boost in the second half of the year, as operators prepare for the introduction of the IMO’s 0.5% global sulphur limit on 1 January next ...