Belgian VLCC giant Euronav is intensifying efforts to retrofit part of its fleet with scrubbers in what would be a dramatic turnaround from its former opposition to the exhaust-gas cleaning devices, market sources said this week.

Euronav is said to have carried out recent enquiries with scrubber suppliers with a programme likely to follow, the sources added.

Euronav’s Brian Gallagher, head of investor relations, did not exactly throw cold water on the notion during a sideline interview with TradeWinds this week at Clarksons Platou Securities tanker seminar in New York.