Maersk to use low-sulfur fuel in Hong Kong

Maersk to use low-sulfur fuel in Hong Kong    Maersk Line said Tuesday it would begin using low-sulfur fuel while at Berth in Hong Kong.
   The Danish container carrier said its ships make around 850 port calls in Hong Kong annually and that switching from bunker fuel, which is used on the high seas, to low-sulphur fuel would reduce its emissions of unhealthy sulphur oxides (SOx) and particles by at least 80 percent. It said the Hong Kong initiative would add $1 million in annual cost to Maersk.
   Maersk said that based on its experience using low-sulfur fuel in California, Houston and elsewhere, it responded when a local non-government organization called Civic Exchange and Hong Kong's environmental authorities proposed the fuel switch.
   'By engaging in voluntary fuel switches in Hong Kong and elsewhere, we want to demonstrate that it is a way to quickly reduce sulphur emissions without any technical difficulties. We support strict sulphur regulation and we hope that our fuel switches will inspire authorities to raise the regulatory bar on SOx,' said Morten Engelstoft, chief operating officer at Maersk Line. 'Shipping is very efficient in terms of cutting CO2 emissions compared with other means of transportation. But shipping's SOx emissions need to be dealt with.”