Shipping contributes to about 10% of man-made sulfur oxide emissions. 80% of the global trade by volume is by sea freight with over 50,000 merchant vessels. Sea-going vessels consume about 6% of the world’s crude oil, and the demand is steadily increasing. The USA, China, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and South Korea are the biggest producers of bunker fuel.
In October 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) declared a sulfur ceiling content target for all marine fuels from 3.5% to 0.5% by 2020. Although the target of .5% has not yet been fully attained, this has resulted in significant sulfur reductions in the shipping industry.
SynSel synthetic diesel fuel has similar combustion qualities as bunker fuel but has no sulfur. At a competitive price point, this presents a viable alternative to bunker fuel towards attaining the sulfur reductions targeted by IMO.
DEFINITION: Bunker fuel or bunker crude is technically any type of fuel oil used aboard vessels. It gets its name from the tanks on ships and in ports that it is stored in; in the early days of steam they were coal bunkers but now they are bunker fuel tanks. The Australian Customs and the Australian Tax Office define a bunker fuel as the fuel that powers the engine of a ship or aircraft. Bunker A is No. 2 fuel oil, bunker B is No. 4 or No. 5 and bunker C is No. 6. Since No. 6 is the most common, "bunker fuel" is often used as a synonym for No. 6. No. 5 fuel oil is also called Navy Special Fuel Oil (NSFO) or just navy special; No. 5 or 6 are also commonly called heavy fuel oil (HFO) or furnace fuel oil (FFO); the high viscosity requires heating, usually by a recirculated low pressure steam system, before the oil can be pumped from a bunker tank. Bunkers are rarely labeled this way in modern maritime practice. Source: Wikipedia