In 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) plans to introduce a new environmental standard, called IMO Tier III. According to the future norm, the maximum permissible sulfur concentration in the exhaust gases of ship's engines for the whole world will be 0.5%, and for the emission control areas-0.1%. There will be difficulties in sea transportation to implement this norm, as heavy fuel is used in transport vessels for the works of power plants today, and such fuel does not meet the IMO Tier 3 requirement. This problem is acute for oil tankers, because they are fueled is spent not only for traffic, but also for heating the transported cargo-approximately in equal proportions. The paper suggests ways to solve the problem with fuel for ships, especially for tankers, in order to meet the requirements of IMO Tier 3. No method is absolutely preferable. To achieve the goal set in this paper, a review and analysis of all the existing methods of solving the problem is carried out. Comparison of different types of fuel as an alternative for use on ships is performed. The use of traditional fuels with the use of additional equipment (scrubbers) is analyzed. Presented are the prospects of using a two-stage waste heat boiler, which provides a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 7% in oil tankers. Options are subject to analysis on environmental and economic indicators in order to find the best way to solve the problem presented.