Wartsila has said demand for its exhaust gas cleaning systems has fallen due to uncertainty in shipping markets.
Owners are way of fuel availability issues and unsure of future developments in the race towards decarbonisation, the Finnish technology group added.
Chief executive Jaako Eskola said order intake for its marine business had picked up in the fourth quarter but was not sufficient to raise the level to that of the previous year.
He added: "The demand for scrubbers declined from exceptionally high levels in the previous year, as a result of uncertainty related to the price and availability of bunker fuels."
Fuel price spreads are supportive of investments in scrubber technology, the company said, but uncertainty around future developments has also delayed decision-making among customers.
"In the marine markets, vessel contracting fell short of initial forecasts, largely due to concerns related to the implications of geopolitical developments on seaborne trade," Eskola said.
Equipment orders have been supported by newbuilding activity in specialised vessels, such as cruiseships and gas carriers.
More orders coming
Roger Holm, president of marine solutions, told TradeWinds there is still scope for more scrubber orders in 2020.
"The scrubber order intake in the last three quarters was really slow," he said.
However, he added: "There a lot of happy owners out there, making good money due to the situation with the fuel spread.
"The fundamentals are still there. We will see more orders this year."
He said owners will most probably be looking at retrofits in the second half of this year.
"It's not a question of our manufacturing capacity, it's more a question of finding a yard with retrofit capability," he said.
Profit falls in fourth quarter
Fourth quarter net profit was down at €102m ($112m), from €153m in the same period of 2018.
Revenue grew to €1.68bn against €1.53bn, but operating costs and wages were higher.
The order intake decreased 17% to €1.55bn.
Marine equipment sales increased by 37% to €1.69bn largely due to a significant increase in scrubber deliveries during the boom last year.
Annual earnings dropped to €315m from €502m.
Performance was weakened in the second half of the year by cost overruns in a handful of complex marine and energy projects, which were caused by inaccurate assumptions in cost estimates, insufficient risk identification, and supplier related challenges, Wartsila said.
In the offshore sector, contracting was burdened by reactivation and upgrades of stacked vessels, as well as by the slow rate of growth in utilisation and day rates.
Following soft marine demand in 2019, caused by lower vessel contracting levels, demand in 2020 is expected to be "somewhat below" that of the previous 12 months, it added.
"Looking further ahead, we see marine transport being greatly affected by the need to improve their environmental footprint," the company added.
Wartilsa noted a growing interest in LNG as a fuel and hybrid battery packs across vessel segments.
