Shipowners are gradually falling into different camps on how to comply with the pending IMO 2020 regulations that limit the sulphur content of fuel to 0.5% instead of the current 3.5%.

The second and third quarters have seen a flurry of announcements, particularly by public companies, of orders for exhaust gas scrubbers by 1 January 2020, including shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk's recent change of heart to install them on some of its ships.