Safe Bulkers completes first of 19 scrubber installations

The Monaco-based company installed an open-loop scrubber on Martine, a post-Panamax bulk carrier.

The scrubber installation was carried out concurrently with a ballast-water treatment system installation during a scheduled drydocking of the vessel as part of its second special survey at Cosco Gunagzhou shipyard.

The scrubber installed on Martine is a U-type Alfa Laval PureSOx, which was tested during commissioning with several loads and found to comply with the stricter 0.1% sulphur fuel-content limit that applies in environmentally controlled areas.

Safe Bulkers signed an agreement with Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry in September 2018 to install Alfa Laval PureSOx scrubbers on five Kamsarmax vessels, 13 Post-Panamax vessels and a recently acquired Capesize vessel, with an option for one additional scrubber. Eighteen scrubbers will be installed on Safe Bulkers’ vessels during 2019, with one scheduled for installation in Q1 2020.

Approximately half of Safe Bulkers’ fleet of 41 vessels will have scrubbers installed to comply with IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap, with the remaining vessels – mostly smaller, more fuel-efficient ships – switching to compliant low-sulphur fuels.

Martine has a dwt of 87,000, a length of 229 m, a beam of 36.5 m and a draft of 14.1 m. It has a capacity of 98,900 m³ across seven holds. The vessel was built in Japan in 2009 and carries the flag of Cyprus, according to VesselsValue.com data.