Scrubbers – saviours or polluters?

There can be little doubt that exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS, or scrubbers) contribute to improved air quality by reducing emissions of sulphur oxides and particulate matter. Their economic case has been proven by, despite the relatively high capital cost and possible loss of revenue from the space they occupy, allowing ships to continue to burn cheap residual fuel oils and avoid the complexity of changing to distillate or other very low sulphur fuels to meet environmental regulations.