Business

The Signal Ocean Platform: Reflections on 2020 bunker fuel prices

Bunker prices saw an uptick through the end of November compared to the first wave of Covid-19, but have remained low compared to the start of the year, it said.

Published

6 years ago

December 30, 2020

Admin

Spot-chartering situational awareness platform, The Signal Ocean Platform on Tuesday (29 December) published its perspective on how the tempestuous events of 2020 have affected the commercial shipping industry. The following is the article’s section on bunker prices:

There is no doubt that 2020 has been a turbulent year for commercial shipping. The coronavirus pandemic has shaken the global maritime transport. The pandemic waves have disrupted supply chains and cargo flows across the world. Global oil demand was severely hit.

Tensions and disagreements regarding oil production between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies such as Russia (known as OPEC+) exacerbated the oil supply-demand imbalance.

All of a sudden, the world was flooded with oil and was running out of place to put it leading to a spike in demand for tankers that served as floating storage. While this sparked some good news for the tanker market, when the floating storage boom ended, the freight rates plummeted.

Impact on bunker fuel prices

The year started with the IMO 2020 regulation kicking in, one of the most significant changes in the tanker industry in recent years. Beginning January 2020 vessels are required to either utilize low sulfur marine bunker fuel such as VLSFO or use the cheaper bunker fuel alternative, HSFO, only if they are equipped with scrubbers. As a result, VLSFO prices were expected to soar and scrubber fitted vessels to benefit from bunker savings. And then, coronavirus happened.

As the first wave of the pandemic started its ripple effect early in 2020, the industry experienced a substantial fall in bunker prices. Compared to the start of the year, fuel prices dropped during the first five months of the year going from $400/mt to $276/mt for HSFO and from $648/mt to $216/mt for VLSFO. At the beginning of the year, the average spread between VLSFO and HSFO was at $248. At the end of November, the spread between the two fuel types had been reduced to $60.

The drop in marine fuel prices benefited some and damaged others. For some industry players including shipowners and charterers, the drop in VLSFO prices has surely been comforting. For others, however, such as bunker suppliers, the decrease in fuel price increased pressure. The price drop did not additionally favor the shipowners who invested in scrubbers in order to comply with the IMO 2020 regulation as this development will likely delay their return on their investment. Things started moving northwards during the second half of the year, where bunker fuel prices saw an uptick through the end of November but have remained low compared to the start of the year.

Photo credit and source: The Ocean Signal Platform
Published: 30 December, 2020

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Published

15 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July).

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions.

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Published

16 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Published

16 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post.

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024.

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026