Singapore: Raymond Lim, minister for transport and second minister for foreign affairs, opened this year's Singapore International Bunkering Conference with a speech themed around challenges ahead. He also told delegates of a new bunker standards policy.
'Over the past year, bunker prices have been highly volatile. The benchmark 380-centistoke fuel grade rose from just under US$400 per metric ton a year ago to more than US$761 per metric ton in July and is today back under US$500 per metric ton. This volatility has introduced much uncertainty for shipping lines, fuel suppliers and traders and others, making it more difficult to plan operations and manage costs,' said Lim.
He went on to highlight pressures on the demand side following the global financial turmoil as well as the issues the bunker industry must face from an environmental point of view.
Mr Lim announced a new national bunker supply chain standard called the Singapore Standard 600 or SS 600. SS 600 will update and consolidate the requirements under two existing Singapore Standards - CP 60 which applies to bunkering by bunker tankers and CP 77 which applies to bunker surveying.
The new standard, to be phased in by the second half of 2009, will benefit the industry in three key ways. First, it rationalises requirements under CP 60 and CP 77 and streamlines the documentation processes, making it easier for bunker players to ensure compliance. Second, the standard will require suppliers to sign declarations that each load of bunkers delivered complies fully with regulations under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, better known as MARPOL. This will give ship operators confidence that they will be fully compliant with international regulations such as bunker sulphur content limits. Finally, customers will enjoy greater assurance of fuel quality, with the introduction of improved fuel sampling requirements that will further reduce the possibility of sample tampering and fraud. [15/10/08]
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