
our vessels, could require a reduction in cargo capacity, ship modifications or operational changes or restrictions, could lead to
decreased availability of insurance coverage for environmental matters or could result in the denial of access to certain
jurisdictional waters or ports or detention in certain ports. Under local, national and foreign laws, as well as international
treaties and conventions, we could incur material liabilities, including clean-up obligations and natural resource damages
liability, in the event that there is a release of hazardous materials from our vessels or otherwise in connection with our
operations. Environmental laws often impose strict liability for remediation of spills and releases of oil and hazardous
substances, which could subject us to liability, without regard to whether we were negligent or at fault. We could also become
subject to personal injury or property damage claims relating to the release of hazardous substances associated with our existing
or historic operations. Violations of, or liabilities under, environmental requirements can result in substantial penalties, fines
and other sanctions, including, in certain instances, seizure or detention of our vessels, and could harm our reputation with
current or potential charterers of our tankers. We will be required to satisfy insurance and financial responsibility requirements
for potential oil (including marine fuel) spills and other pollution incidents. Although we have insurance to cover certain
environmental risks, there can be no assurance that such insurance will be sufficient to cover all such risks or that any claims
will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In addition, many environmental requirements are designed to reduce the risk of pollution, such as from oil spills, and our
compliance with these requirements could be costly. To comply with these and other regulations, including: (i) the sulfur
emission requirements of Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships, or
“MARPOL”, which instituted a global 0.5% (lowered from 3.5% as of January 1, 2020) sulfur cap on marine fuel consumed by
a vessel, unless the vessel is equipped with an exhaust gas cleaning system, an EGCS or scrubber, and (ii) the International
Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments of the International Maritime
Organization, or IMO, which requires vessels to install expensive ballast water treatment systems, or BWTS, we may be
required to incur additional costs to meet new maintenance and inspection requirements, develop contingency plans for
potential spills, and obtain insurance coverage. The increased demand for low sulfur fuels may increase the costs of fuel for our
vessels that do not have scrubbers. Additional conventions, laws and regulations may be adopted that could limit our ability to
do business or increase the cost of doing business and which may materially and adversely affect our operations.
We have incurred increased costs to comply with these revised standards. Additional or new conventions, laws and regulations
may be adopted that could require, among others, the installation of expensive emission control systems and could adversely
affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Low sulfur fuel is more expensive than standard
marine fuel containing 3.5% sulfur content and may become more expensive or difficult to obtain as a result of increased
demand. If the cost differential between low sulfur fuel and high sulfur fuel is significantly higher than anticipated, or if low
sulfur fuel is not available at ports on certain trading routes, it may not be feasible or competitive to operate our vessels on
certain trading routes without installing scrubbers or without incurring deviation time to obtain compliant fuel. Scrubbers may
not be available to be installed on such vessels at a favorable cost or at all if we seek them at a later date. Further, there is risk
that if the fuel spread between high sulfur fuel oil and low sulfur fuel oil decreases, we may not be able to recover the
investments we have made in our scrubbers with our expected timeframes or at all. As of December 31, 2022, 40 of the vessels
owned by the Company are fitted with scrubbers, of which 18 vessels were delivered to the Company with scrubbers fitted, and
two further scrubber installations are planned in 2023. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has incurred $87.8 million since
2018 on the purchase and installation of scrubbers on 28 vessels, of which two were sold in 2021, two were sold in 2022 and
the leases on two vessels were terminated in 2022.
Furthermore, depending on the date of the International Oil Pollution Prevention, or IOPP, renewal survey, existing vessels
constructed before September 8, 2017 must comply with the updated D-2 standard on or after September 8, 2019. For most
vessels, compliance with the D-2 standard will involve installing on-board systems to treat ballast water and eliminate
unwanted organisms. Ships constructed on or after September 8, 2017 are to comply with the D-2 standards on or after
September 8, 2017. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has incurred $21.0 million since 2018 to comply with these
regulations.
Furthermore, United States regulations are currently changing. Although the 2013 Vessel General Permit, or VGP program and
the U.S. National Invasive Species Act, or NISA, are currently in effect to regulate ballast discharge, exchange and installation,
the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, or VIDA, which was signed into law on December 4, 2018, requires that the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, develop national standards of performance for approximately 30 discharges, similar
to those found in the VGP within two years. On October 26, 2020, the EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for
Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance under VIDA. Within two years after the EPA publishes its final
Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance, the U.S. Coast Guard must develop corresponding
implementation, compliance and enforcement regulations regarding ballast water. The new regulations could require the
installation of new equipment, which may cause us to incur substantial costs.
Frontline Plc – Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022 40