Sinopec’s Hainan refinery delivers first low-sulphur bunker fuel cargo – state media

Sinopec Corp’s subsidiary refinery in southern island province of Hainan delivered its first shipment of low-sulfur bunker fuel that meets the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) emission rules, state media reported.

* A vessel carrying 2,200 tonnes of the fuel left the Hainan refinery in late February heading to Ningbo on the east coast. The fuel will be put to pilot use at a maritime institution in Shanghai, China Securities Journal reported

* The Hainan plant is the second refinery under Sinopec to produce the low-sulfur marine fuel that meets IMO standards. In January, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Corp shipped 6,000 tonnes of the fuel

* IMO will ban ships from using fuel oil with a sulfur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, unless they are equipped with exhaust “scrubbers” to clean up sulphur emissions, starting 2020
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Rashmi Aich)