ATHENS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Maritime energy took center stage at this year's Posidonia shipping exhibition, as the deadline for all companies to conform to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements for cleaner fuel leads to significant changes in the industry and to new business opportunities.

"The major theme of this Posidonia is energy, with the pressure of meeting the 2020 and 2050 decarburization targets, as set by the IMO," observed Nigel Lowry of Lloyd's List on Tuesday, the second day of the biennial event that concludes on Friday.

The IMO has imposed a global sulphur cap of 0.5 percent on fuel, effective from Jan. 1, 2020. It has also targeted the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from 2008 to 2050 by 50 percent.

Shipowners' plans for meeting those targets include the employment of scrubbers -- oil treatment systems that remove sulphur from the fuel -- or the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel in ships.

Posidonia saw plenty of action in those directions on Tuesday, with China's COSCO Shipping signing a letter of intent with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Company for the manufacturing of a new scrubber demo test facility.