HPCL begins supply of IMO-compliant marine fuel

New Delhi: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) on Friday said it has commenced delivery of fuel for ships that are compliant with International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) low sulphur mandate.

The new global IMO rules require the maximum sulphur content in marine fuel oil to be reduced to 0.5 per cent from the previous levels of 3.5 per cent, effective January 1, 2020. Vessels that use higher-sulphur fuel oil must have special pollution control systems in place to reduce sulphur emissions.

"HPCL launched IMO-2020 compliant very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) at Visakhapatnam (in Andhra Pradesh) on January 2," a company statement said.

The first batch of VLSFO was produced in HPCL's Visakh refinery in early December 2019, and was formally launched on Thursday, it said.