Wilhelmsen insights

Complying with the 2020 EU F-gas Service Ban

The EU F-gas Regulation was implemented to reduce the use of HFCs to mitigate the effects of global warming. As such, HFCs with high Global Warming Potential have been banned in the EU. What are the penalties for non-compliance, and what alternatives can shipowners turn to? Our expert, Francis Lai, shares more.

Wilhelmsen insights |
Francis Lai, Business Manager Refrigeration

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2020 is the year of new environmental regulations. Besides IMO 2020, we also have additional requirements from the Montreal Protocol and F-gas regulation to phase down refrigerants with high GWP. 

Now, the use of virgin R-404A, R-507, R-422D have been banned in the EU under the F-gas regulation. We expect other regions to implement similar measures in the near future.

There are two main reasons why affected ship owners should convert their system to low GWP refrigerant now.

First, to avoid business disruption and penalty fines due to non-compliance. For example, those who breach the F-gas regulation in the UK could face fines of up to two hundred thousand pounds.

Second, and more importantly, to achieve corportate sustainability goals and ensure long term compliance. R-407F and R-452A have much lower GWP and are fully compatible with existing R-404A systems.

It means full compliance with current regulations, no retrofit required, no downtime, and lastly, they allow existing equipment to continue operating safely and efficiently.

In summary, R-407F and R-452A enable affected shipowners to stay compliant to reduce the carbon footprint of their vessels at a much lower cost than other alternative refrigerant.

For shipowners looking to build new vessels, we are continuously developing low GWP refrigerants to facilitate the changeover.