Spliethoff plans fleet-wide scrubber retrofits

The company made the announcement as it installed its twenty-fourth system, on cargo vessel Floragracht at BLRT shipyard in Lithuania. It noted that installing scrubbers prepared the company for the global sulphur cap, due to enter force on 1 January 2020.

“Thanks to scrubbers and with the support of our customers, Spliethoff Group will lower the impact of shipping on the environment and at the same time cope in a cost-efficient way with the cost increase caused by stricter sulphur regulations,” said Arne Hubregtse, technical director, Spliethoff Group.

The company pointed to its already significant experience with scrubber technology. In 2012, subsidiary Transfennica outfitted six ro-ro container vessels with scrubbers. Spliethoff’s fourteen S-type vessels followed by 2015, with sister company Wijnne Barends fitting scrubbers in three C-type vessels at the same time.

The remaining scrubber retrofits will take place across the Spliethoff, BigLift Shipping and Sevenstar Yacht Transport fleets.