Bilfinger Wins USD 45 Mn Worth of Scrubber Orders

The industrial services provider Bilfinger secured contracts from several Greek maritime shipping companies to fit out at least 42 vessels with scrubbers.

Under the agreements, with a total value of over EUR 40 million (USD 45.6 million), the company will provide flue-gas-desulphurisation systems that filter out sulphurous exhaust gases by means of a special absorption process to a number of shipowners, including Maran Tankers, Anangel Maritime, Delta Tankers, and Marmaras Navigation.

“More and more enterprises are becoming interested in environmental technologies – now on the water as well. We have decades of experience with flue-gas desulphurisation, and we are now carrying our know-how over to the high-seas shipping industry. Deploying our “Made in Germany” technologies will allow us do our part to help ensure that ships comply with the new thresholds and that the sea air remains clean,” Tom Blades, CEO of Bilfinger, said.

The international maritime shipping industry must comply with significantly stricter environmental requirements. Most vessels currently are fuelled by heavy oil, which comprises a share of more than three percent of sulphur.

Starting in 2020, the sulphur content of fuel is to be officially limited to 0.5 percent all over the world. As an alternative, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the European Union are permitting exhaust gases to be desulphurised using scrubbers. This reduces the sulphur dioxide concentrations in the exhaust gas emitted by heavy oil to the same significant degree achieved by the use of low-sulphur fuels (marine diesel and LNG), which are very expensive by comparison.