BY GARY FRANTZ, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
MARITIME/PORTS
For ocean carriers,
2020 will be a year of
reckoning, as regulatory
and market pressures
force them to shelve
expansion plans and
slash costs. But over at
the nation’s ports, it’s a
different story.
PORTS AND CONTAINERSHIP OPERATORS HAVE TURNED THE PAGE ON
a challenging 2019 in which they persevered through a weakening global economy,
slackening demand, shifting trade flows, trade and tariff battles between the U.S.
and China, and a resulting pause in capital investment by the world’s industrial
and manufacturing companies as they wait to see how the battles play out. The one
bright spot was the American consumer, whose strong consumption continued to
buoy an otherwise tepid economy.
Going into the new year, maritime players are faced with many of these same
macroeconomic as well as shipping-specific business issues. Notably, the maritime
industry also enters 2020 dealing with perhaps its biggest challenge in decades: IMO
2020, the International Maritime Organization’s global regulation to limit sulfur
emissions from oceangoing ships, which took effect January 1st.
Under the new regulation, ships are required to use fuel with a sulfur content of
0.5% or less, down from 3.5%—or otherwise equip vessels with exhaust-cleaning
systems, or “scrubbers,” to meet lower sulfur oxide (SOx) emission requirements.
Maritime industry
braces for sea change
TRANSPORTATION
