Singapore defends allegations of bunkering malpractice
The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) has defended allegations of recent malpractice of shortchanging bunker delivery quantity by the bunkering industry of Singapore, Seatrade Asia online reports.
The SSA responded to alleged instances of 'cappuccino' or frothed bunkers being supplied in Singapore. The 'cappuccino' effect, due to the presence of entrained air which may cause the bunker fuel to froth, would lead to unreliable quantity measurements. After several days when the froth subsides, the result would be an apparent 'loss' of bunkers.
The SSA said the significant number of reported instances of frothed bunker are “overly exaggerated and unsubstantiated by hard evidence at the time of loading.”
Daniel Tan, executive director of SSA, said: “All deliveries in the port must follow SS600 imposed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and any non-compliance is subject to sanctions by the MPA.
“Additionally, the bunker tankers used for the delivery of bunkers have to comply with the Standards for Port Limit Bunker Tankers and have to go through a satisfactory survey before a Bunker Craft Operator Licence can be issued or renewed. To top it off, bunker suppliers are also licensed and are required to have a Quality Management for Bunker Supply Chain (Singapore Standard SS524:2006) in place, and this is subjected to an annual audit,” he said.
Singapore is the world's largest bunkering port with sales volume of more than 43m metric tonnes last year.
“While it is undesirable to have any complaints, this is a relatively small number in view of the fact that there are over 37,000 vessels which called at Singapore for bunkers in 2011,” said Patrick Phoon, president of SSA.
Phoon added that the total number of bunker quantity disputes recorded by SSA account for only 0.08% of the total deliveries done in Singapore.