Bid farewell to 2020, but remember the seafarers

THAT is it, then. We've somehow managed to get through 2020. A year ago, we were all expecting the following 12 months to be particularly challenging. The shipping industry was about to switch to low sulphur fuel, something that raised the spectre of various potential nightmare scenarios ranging from engine breakdowns causing catastrophes to widespread shortage of compliant fuel disrupting trade.

As things have turned out, complying with the 0.50 per cent sulphur in fuel regulation has been relatively trouble-free. With few exceptions, there has been enough compliant fuel. There have been some issues - regulatory ones over whether particular fuel was compliant, and technical ones including wax formation, sludging, and increased cylinder wear. In general however the industry has taken the "big switch" in its stride.

What we didn't know a year ago was that the world was about to be hit by a pandemic, a global health emergency way beyond anything encountered within living memory.