Rumours of seaborne coal’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, to paraphrase Mark Twain, but shipowners should eye proposed restrictions on new projects in Asia.

While the commercial shipping sector has been focused on the IMO’s 2023 GHG Strategy discussions, and upcoming discussion of mid-term measures, it may have been distracted from environmental developments affecting important downstream markets, such as seaborne coal.

Singapore is currently finalising a Singapore Asia Taxonomy, which is likely to require existing thermal coal capacity to close by 2040 at the latest. Much of the discussion revolves around definitions of abatement, as proponents of net zero technologies (such as carbon capture or ammonia injection) endeavour to include these solutions among acceptable options.