OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2014. Neste Oil will launch a low-sulfur marine bunker fuel compliant with the requirements of the EU's Sulphur Directive.

The new fuel reduces sulfur, nitrogen and particle emissions in the marine transport significantly. EU's Sulphur Directive is due to come into force in 2015 and will require the sulfur content of bunker fuel to be reduced from 1% to 0.1% in the Baltic, the North Sea, and the English Channel. In practice, this means that ships will have to install an on-board scrubber system or switch to low-sulfur bunker fuel.

"Our aim, as part of our strategy, is to continually offer customers cleaner fuel solutions, and our new low-sulfur bunker fuel is an excellent example of our capability to meet the tightening environmental requirements," says Olli Vesamo, Neste Oil's Director, Direct Sales. "The new fuel is a much more highly refined product that conventional bunker fuel. As we remove virtually all the sulfur during the refining process, using it will enable ships to comply with the strict new sulfur limit due to come into force at the beginning of next year. It will also eliminate the need for owners to make major modifications to their vessels, such as installing scrubbing equipment."

Neste Oil will produce the new fuel at both its Porvoo and Naantali refineries, and it will be available towards the end of this year at ports around Finland.