Oldendorff Carriers has signed a deal to fit new U-type scrubbers to two capesize newbuildings.
The deal was signed at Nor-Shipping by Oldendorff’s director of innovation, Torsten Barenthin, and Yara chief sales officer Aleksander Askeland.
This is the German bulker giant’s first use of Yara’s U-type devices, but it already has other Yara scrubbers on 96 ships in the fleet.
The packed-bed scrubber improves contact between two phases in a chemical process.
Barenthin said: “We are pleased to further strengthen our collaboration with Yara Marine Technologies, which began in February 2018.
“Equipping over 90 vessels with SOx scrubbers in less than two years was an enormously challenging project and we have been extremely satisfied with the results, allowing us close to 99% uptime.”
The new ships are the Alice Oldendorff and Austyn Oldendorff, being built in China.
The group has 19 vessels on order in China and an operational fleet of 109 bulk carriers.
Askeland said Yara looks forward to hitting the 100-ship mark with its partner.
“As we widen our portfolio of innovative and cost-effective green technologies, we look forward to closer collaboration,” he added.
With the low and high-sulphur fuel price spread more than $200 per tonne at the moment, scrubbers can give a huge cost advantage to owners buying the cheaper, dirtier bunkers.
Yara’s portfolio also encompasses in-line scrubbers (I-type and L-type), with open-loop, closed-loop and hybrid options.
