The market for scrubbers

Since marine gas oil is more expensive than heavy fuel oil, the market has shown interest in the installation of scrubbers onboard ships. However, the overall number of scrubbers installed is yet relatively limited and the recent drop in price differences between MGO and HFO resulted in postponing of investment decisions. This can be explained by various related factors like uncertainty about future global limits, large investment costs and limited experience with the technology and ‘acceptance’ of the technology within the maritime industry.

The maritime industry stakeholders industry and the European Commission are discussing the increased use of scrubbers and the related impacts on the environment.

To inform the discussion, T&E asked CE Delft to analyse available data regarding the number of scrubbers installed on vessels and the number of orders.

In this note, we provide an overview of the current scrubber market and future expectation.