Widely voiced concerns that shipping would suffer from bunker shortages after the introduction of a 0.5% sulphur cap on marine fuels have been exaggerated, numbers provided by a Cypriot flag state official indicates.

Two months after IMO 2020 kicked in, the data suggests shipping companies are finding it easy to supply their vessels with the new fuels.

From mid-November until 21 February, shipping companies across the world submitted just 64 fuel oil non-availability reports (FONARs), Ioannis Efstratiou, head of marine development at Cyprus’ shipping deputy ministry said.