Globally, the majority of shipowners agreed to pay higher fuel costs in exchange for using cleaner fuels in ships engines rather than the continued use of residual fuels, the waste product of refineries.

Shipowners recognise the enormous benefit to the environment, which includes a significantly cleaner global air shed. It is believed that if adequate supply for the increased demand of cleaner fuels was made available then this could address pricing concerns.

The reluctance of the refiners to crack the waste they generate has meant that the better quality fuels are both difficult to obtain and excessively expensive.

Studies suggest that for refineries to provide the shipping industry with clean fuels, about 50 refineries would have to be upgraded, a cost of about $38 billion. Some argue that the oil companies should be motivated to produce greater volumes of lighter fuel available in the world market as it is well know that the oil companies make significant profits from lighter and cleaner fuels when compared to residuals.

A cynic would say that perhaps even greater profits can be achieved if in controlling the supply, refiners deliberately produce and inadequate supply, which, coupled with increasing demand, offers the potential for even higher profits, without the necessary capital cost investment of some $38 billion.

The improvements we all want will only be fully realised when oil refiners and oil majors accept their responsibility to improve the quality of the fuels that they make available to the global shipping industry. By contrast, in the US, Canada and Europe, there are very stringent regulations regarding clean petroleum products sold and used by car and land-based transportation.

With respect to shipping, it is expected that the shipping industry should clean the dirty fuel it is allocated. It seems far more rational and cost-effective that the 600 or so refineries that exist should provide the fuel required by global standards rather than have the world fleet of 50,000 ships on an individual basis, remove contaminants from fuel in a time where no proven abatement solution technologies have developed.

To maximise compliance, regulators should have imposed regulations on the refiners/oil majors since the shipping industry is a mere consumer of their products and relies on their available fuels to move the world fleet. The refiners have the dominant role to play. One wonders why they are not globally regulated as is the shipping industry under the IMO and the International Atomic Energy Agency?