The marine fuels and lubricants arm of the US oil major will add three chartered bunker tankers by July 2014 to bring its fleet to six, and will deliver the majority of marine fuel in Singapore using mass flow meters approved by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
“The MPA’s recent announcement that they will mandate mass flow metering systems supports ExxonMobil’s view that this technology delivers significant value to vessel operators. This is why we have been providing our customers with the benefits of the mass flow metering system in Singapore for almost two years,” said Molina Albright, general manager, marine fuels, Asia Pacific at ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants.
Singapore will implement mandatory adoption of mass flow meters for bunkering from 1 January 2017. All existing bunker tankers operating in Singapore will have to be fitted with an approved mass flow meter by 31 December 2016. In addition, all new bunker tankers applying for Singapore's harbour craft (bunker tanker) licence after 31 December 2014 will need to be fitted with an approved mass flow meter.
ExxonMobil noted that the mass flow metering systems offer major benefits to vessel operators, with savings of up to an estimated three hours and $7,000 per delivery (based on 1,000 metric tonnes at a fuel price of $600 per metric tonne), as well as increased transparency during the bunkering process.
“Our expanded mass flow metering capability will enable us to offer more marine operators the possibility of achieving the valuable time and cost savings provided by this advanced technology,” Albright said.
In July 2012, ExxonMobil was the first bunker supplier to deliver marine fuel using a mass flow metering system approved by MPA.
Mass flow meters, also known as Coriolis flow meters, are able to make fluid measurements based on mass, and not volume. In bunker fuel trading, fuel is sold by mass but delivered by volume. The use of mass flow meters will allow the fuel to be measured by mass directly, enhancing transparency during transactions.
Conventional fuel quantity measurement methods require manual work such as sounding, tape measurements and cross-checkings with calibration tables.
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