Connect with us

Business

ENGINE: Wide Hi5 spreads spur Clean Marine to gear up for flurry of scrubber orders

Shipowners have recently been eager to book scrubber retrofits to take advantage of wide Hi5 spreads in the coming months and years, according to ENGINE.
Admin

Published

4 years ago

on

184 1

The following is an article written by Erik Hoffman from online marine fuel procurement platform ENGINE on Clean Marine increasing the capacity of its scrubber installations to meet demand with evidence from the past six months of Hi5 (low sulphur fuel oil vs high sulphur fuel oil) spreads and future projections of these staying wide which could trigger another flurry of scrubber orders:

The past few months have been a wild rollercoaster for energy prices and the spreads between them.

Hi5 spreads have blown wide open for sustained periods. Who would have thought that the IMO 2020 peak spreads could be surpassed? Well last summer, Hi5 spreads in Singapore and other major bunker ports did just that. They topped previously unthinkable highs.

Singapore’s Hi5 spread leapt up from less than $100/mt in early May to an all-time record of $575/mt in July. That was way beyond anyone’s expectations and more than $200/mt above the previous peak levels seen right after the IMO 2020 sulphur cap came into force.

ENGINE

Hi5 spreads in Singapore, Fujairah and Rotterdam in the past year

Shipowners have recently been eager to book scrubber retrofits to take advantage of wide Hi5 spreads in the coming months and years. As we all know, the lead-up to IMO 2020 saw peak interest in scrubber investments and shipowners lining up to get vessels retrofitted or built with scrubbers in shipyards. Orderbooks were filling up fast and scrubber manufacturers were fully booked months ahead.

Evidence from the past six months of Hi5 spreads and future projections of these staying wide could very well trigger another flurry of scrubber orders. Clean Marine is now increasing capacity to meet that demand.

“We are now ramping up our scrubber installations fully because we believe momentum is building,” Clean Marine’s Nicholas Hvide Macleod says, “Hi5 spreads look very lucrative going forward.”

Looking ahead in the paper market, Singapore’s Hi5 spread is projected to hold above $190/mt on average next year. The port’s current delivered bunker spot spread is about $285/mt, and in recent months we have seen that the Hi5 spread in the spot market has overperformed by around $100/mt above its paper equivalent.

If we look at current fuel cost savings for a scrubber-fitted non-eco Capesize tanker bunkering HSFO in Singapore with the current spot discount of $285/mt to VLSFO, its fuel cost savings run up to $14,250/day if it consumes 50 mt/day of HSFO. This means that its scrubber can be paid back in about 17 months.

The months and years ahead of us are also poised to serve up wide spreads, with strong refining margins and lots of HSFO produced as a by-product. This should weigh on HSFO prices, while distillates and other VLSFO blendstocks further up the barrel are running low in storage and could be depleted further as sanctions on Russian oil products come into force in two months.

In fact, Singapore’s Hi5 spread has averaged $351/mt in the past six months and is forecast to remain wide in part due to favourable HSFO supply-demand dynamics in the foreseeable future.

 

Photo credit: Chris Pagan on Unsplash / ENGINE
Published: 13 December, 2022

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Admin

Published

18 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

RESIZED Sora Shimazaki on Pexels

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July). 

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions. 

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Related: Singapore: Hin Leong Founder OK Lim gets jail term slashed to 13.5 years

 

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Admin

Published

18 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

RESIZED Drew Beamer

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

  • That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

  • that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
  • that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
  • that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Related: Singapore: Director declares Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping’s inability to continue business
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping in court over DBS Bank bunker tanker loan
Related: Singapore: Bunker tanker “Coastal Neptune” arrested
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping, Coastal Logistics tankers enter S&P market

 

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Admin

Published

18 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. 

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post. 

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024. 

 

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

Trending