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200 ships bunkered contaminated fuel in Singapore200 ships bunkered contaminated fuel in Singapore

About 200 ships have been supplied with a contaminated batch of heavy sulphur fuel (HFO) in Singapore, around 80 of which have reported engine, fuel pump or other issues.

Marcus Hand, Editor

April 13, 2022

2 Min Read
Vessel bunkering in Singapore port
Photo: Marcus Hand

The contamination problems were first flagged by a bunker alert issued by fuel tester VPS on 11 March, which was later picked-up by P&I Club Gard. According to the Maritime & Port Authority it was first informed on 14 March that a number of ships had been supplied with HFO containing high concentrations of Chlorinated Organic Compounds (COC) (1,2-Dichloroethane, Tetrachloroethylene).

MPA said preliminary investigations showed the fuel contaminated with 15,000 ppm from overseas sourced by Glencore Singapore was used in a blended product.  Part of the of this blended product had then been sold to PetroChina International (Singapore), which in turn supplied it as fuel to vessels.

“To date, Glencore and PetroChina had supplied the affected fuel to about 200 ships in the Port of Singapore. Of these, about 80 ships have reported various issues with their fuel pumps and engines,” MPA said.

“MPA has conducted fuel sample tests for some of the affected ships and found elevated levels of COC in their fuel samples. This is the first case of fuel contamination due to high concentration levels of COC reported in Singapore in the past two decades.”

VPS CEO Malcolm Cooper said on Tuesday that it had identified 140,170 metric tonnes of fuel that had been contaminated with a market value of around $120m.

Related:Gard urges closer scrutiny of bunker supply contracts in light of continuing contamination issues

“We would advise our customers to be very aware that this contaminated fuel remains in the supply chain and could potentially be reused or re-blended for use as a bunker fuel,” Cooper said.

While fuels supplied in Singapore have to meet the ISO 8217 standard COC contamination would not show up in such tests. MPA noted Glencore had also performed additional testing of the fuel based on the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D7845 standard but it also does not test for COC.

Cooper from VPS said: “VPS therefore strongly recommend GCMS screening as the most effective method of detecting chemical contaminants in bunker fuel including chlorinated hydrocarbons.”

The MPA, which regulates the world’s largest bunkering port, said it was in discussions with the industry on implementing additional fuel quality checks that would screen for unacceptable chemicals in bunker fuel.

“As a major bunkering hub, MPA takes bunker quality assurance seriously and will not hesitate to take necessary actions against relevant parties if they have failed to comply with MPA’s bunker licence conditions or other applicable regulations,” the authority added.

The industry has feared a repeat of incidents in 2018 where contaminated bunkers first supplied in Houston spread to become a global problem.

Related:Houston bunker contamination spreading worldwide warns Standard Club

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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