Singapore-based Ecospec Global Technology Pte Ltd reported late last month that the capability of its scrubber system to efficiently remove sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), based on the emissions of an operating aframax installed with the system, has been verified by a leading classification society.

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) issued a Statement of Fact on February 8, 2010 verifying that the CSNOx gas abatement system removes 98.6%-98.9% of SO2, 76.5-77.1% of CO2 and 64.5-66.2% of NOx from the 100,000 dwt Singapore-registered aframax tanker burning 380 centistokes (cSt) bunker fuel, Ecospec said.

Based on these results, Ecospec believes that vessels installed with the CSNOx system would be able to continue using normal heavy fuel and be able to meet even the most stringent bunker fuel sulphur content limit of 0.1%.

"In other words, there is no need for vessel owners to convert to distillate fuel or modify the fuel system for switching to distillate," said Ecospec.

There is currently no other scrubber designer or manufacturer in the market claiming to be able to remove all three pollutants simultaneously via a single system.

According to Ecospec, there is also "no other cost effective system currently available to remove CO2 at the rate the CSNOx system is capable of".

Ecospec founder and managing director Chew Hwee Hong said the latest ABS tests also showed that wash quality of the CSNOx system met "all IMO requirements with most parameters surpassing the strict criteria by a large margin".

"ABS verifications also underscore the fact that CSNOx is the world's first proven commercially viable solution that can effectively reduce the hotly debated GHG [greenhouse gases] and pollutants all in one system," Chew added.

Not surprisingly, development of the CSNOx system, has stirred up a great measure of debate in the shipping industry, with particular focus on what the system is claiming to be able to do.

The latest ABS tests were carried out aboard an aframax owned and managed by Singaporean tanker specialist Tanker Pacific, which is among the world's fifteen largest tanker companies.

Moreover, Tanker Pacific is not the only operator to have installed Ecospec scrubbers aboard their vessels.

Dutch shipping company ForestWave Navigation late last year announced plans to install the CSNOx system onboard six of its vessels in an effort to reduce emissions.

Repercussions of the system's success on the residual fuel and bunker markets would also be of great significance.

A source from one of the world's top three largest oil majors told Bunkerworld that refiners have been "staying on the sidelines" regarding issues about a possible global phase-out of heavy fuel oil being used as bunkers, and what would then be required "exponentially increased" levels of distillate production.

"If Ecospec's CSNOx works, we can stop wasting precious time, effort, and investments, to anticipate future regulatory developments, and instead get back to work within the usual parameters and do accurate long-term business planning," the source told Bunkerworld on Tuesday.

From the ship owning and operating perspective, most players Bunkerworld spoke to said that they would install it, granted complete validation based on tests with the highest integrity and stringency.

"If the system can indeed do what its manufacturer says it can do, then CSNOx will surely be the silver bullet for global shipping, given that it can in a single direct way address all prevailing issues surrounding emissions and the future of bunker fuel grades," the technical superintendent for one of the world's largest box carriers told Bunkerworld on Tuesday.

"We don't have to worry about getting penalised for emissions, and at the same time we can continue using fuel oil which is much cheaper than distillate grades," the superintendent said.

Taking the phrase 'silver bullet' to mean a new and straightforward solution that answers concerns across the board, do you think that Ecospec's CSNOx scrubber will be the 'silver bullet' for the shipping industry?