ABS Updates Marine Fuel Oil Advisory with Lessons Learned

[By: ABS]

Since January 2020, ships have been required to use fuels with a maximum sulfur content of 0.50 percent globally. During this period, some operators experienced adverse issues from the use of new VLSFO or ULSFO 2020 fuels while in service. Although the number of known occurrences are very low compared to the total number of vessels in the world’s fleet, they can be minimized by taking adequate precautions.

In the latest update to the ABS Marine Fuel Oil Advisory, we discuss some of these issues, including scuffing between the piston ring and cylinder liner, deposits on piston ring groove/land, deposits on piston crown/top land, high piston ring wear, high rate of liner wear, cold corrosion, red deposits on the piston crown and excessive sludge production. Also included in the advisory are a few preventative guidelines to overcome these issues.