IMO 2020 – the disruptor that never was

Shipping began 2020 focused on environmental issues, in particular the IMO’s sulphur restrictions which came into force in January. Beth Bradley, of Hill Dickinson, examines what effect this legislation has had in this rather interesting year

It is not yet a year since the permissible sulphur content of fuel on board a vessel to be used as marine fuel was lowered to 0.5 per cent mass by mass (m/m), a requirement which presented a huge challenge to global shipping. Here, we examine the extent to which this transition has been successful, notwithstanding the intervention of Covid-19 and related disruption.