German shipper Hamburg Süd has for the second time this year teamed with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help formulate new data on possible contaminant reductions in marine shipping.
In August, the vessel Cap San Lorenzo used Low Sulphur Marine Gas Oil (LSMGO), a fuel with a sulphur content of 0.1 per cent, on its service between the US Gulf and Caribbean/South America East Coast while it was entering and departing the port of Santos.
It followed tests using LSMGO in April 2010 at the ports of Veracruz, Altamira and Houston, also on the Cap San Lorenzo.
'We recognise and applaud the efforts of fleet owners, such as Hamburg Süd, who voluntarily engage in emissions reduction strategies like fuel switching,' said Gina McCarthy, US EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation. 'EPA estimates that a ship can achieve a 95 per cent reduction in sulphur dioxide and an 85 per cent reduction in fine particulates when lower sulphur fuels are used.'
