The world’s leading maritime nations are leaning toward setting rules next week to cut the sulfur in oceangoing vessels’ fuel by more than 85% in 2020, people familiar with the matter say. The rules are aimed at reducing the air pollution from burning high-sulfur fuel oil—a viscous refining byproduct—that health officials blame for respiratory and heart diseases. Shipping executives say it would cost around $40 billion for the industry to meet the new rules, with some of the outlays starting soon, during one of the sector’s worst-ever downturns . The regulation also could catapult the price of cleaner-burning marine diesel fuel sharply higher if the deadline isn’t extended to 2025, giving fuel producers time to adjust, some shipping and energy executives say. Even at the later date, some ship operators say they doubt there would be enough of the fuel to supply the industry. The International Maritime Organization, the […]