V.Group has urged shipowners to take action now on IMO 2020 compliance to avoid ships being declared "unseaworthy."
The shipmanager said it was seeing growing numbers of operators developing ship implementation plans (SIPs) to mitigate risks and minimise disruption.
IMO has agreed that a SIP can be taken into consideration by inspectors when verifying compliance with the 0.5% sulphur limit, it added.
This "could be particularly important if safe compliant fuels are unexpectedly unavailable during the initial weeks of implementation."
John Kerr, global head of technical for ship management at V.Group, said: “While there remain many questions around policing and enforcement, the IMO has made it very clear that any vessel that does not meet these requirements risks being declared unseaworthy.
"This could result in heavy fines, penalties, detention, delays, and in the event of an insurance claim, even affect charter party and or indemnity cover."
He added: “As the 0.5% global sulphur cap looms large, knowledge is power, and preparation key to a smooth transition into 2020 and beyond. Compliance is achievable but the right measures need to be put in place in a timely fashion.
"SIPs provide an effective means to achieve this, as well as providing evidence of environmentally compliant operations."
