Eagle Bulk may have exhaust gas scrubbers on most of its fleet before the IMO 2020 deadline.
In early September, the New York-listed company announced plans to put scrubbers on 19 ships with the option to put them on 18 more before 2020.
Chief executive Gary Vogel said today his company intends to install most of the optional units onto its 48-ship fleet to leverage an expected price spread between high-sulphur and low-sulphur fuel oils.
"We believe that we will be able to install not just the original 19 but the majority of 18 ships by January 1, 2020," he told TradeWinds after taking part in an IMO 2020 panel at Capital Link's New York Maritime Forum.
"We have enough lead time given the options and we have enough capital."
He said the price spread is anyone's guess but Eagle expects it to be widest in early 2020, the year ship exhaust sulphur content will need to be within 0.5%.
"Therefore, it is our focus to have as many ships fitted by that date as possible," he said.
He said Eagle would not have acquired the option for 18 more scrubbers if it did not expect to install them on its ships.
"We think it's a compelling investment, therefore I think it's likely that you'll see more options as time goes on," he said.
"We haven't made a determination as to how many it will be but we'll have to wait and see."
Vogel reaffirmed that Eagle plans to continue its fleet renewal programme but is pointing its capital at scrubbers at the moment-- possibly $74m for all 37 -- to meet the 2020 deadline.
Eagle, which last quarter announced buying a 2014 ultramax vessel, expects to pay for the scrubbers with available cash but is also exploring possible financing.
"You can't do everything at once," he said.
