The use of Singapore’s Technical Reference for Bunker Mass Flow Metering (TR 48:2015) has been adopted by a MFM-equipped bunker tanker operating at the Port of Piraeus in Greece, learns Manifold Times.
The Athens-based supplier and bunker tanker could not be named due to a client confidentiality agreement; but the development has been confirmed by both Metcore International and Lloyd’s Register (LR) representatives.
“The accreditation process started from November 2018 when the Athens-based supplier approached LR to get their bunker tanker certified to TR 48:2015 standards,” Brian Pranesh, Sales Engineer at Singapore-based marine fuel measurement engineering solutions company, Metcore International, told Manifold Times.
“Metcore then sent its engineers to Greece to oversee the site survey, review tanker piping modifications, and conduct flange sealing while carrying out acceptance tests to ensure the tanker can achieve TR 48 compliance under LR’s mass flow metering accreditation scheme.
“Following, LR accredited the bunker tanker’s mass flow metering system (MFMS) with reference to TR 48 standards after acceptance tests were completed with satisfying repeatable and consistent results.”
Accrediting the bunker tanker to TR 48 standards in a port other than Singapore, where a standardised system has already been set in place to facilitate the MFMS accreditation process, presented an interesting challenge for Metcore and LR to overcome, according to Douglas Raitt, the Regional Consultancy Manager at bunker fuel analysis and advisory service firm LR FOBAS.
“Unlike Singapore, there was an absence of a separate bunker tanker to conduct the acceptance test,” he explained.
“As such, we overcame this hurdle by introducing a terminal for meter-in/meter-out volume checks in replacement of a supporting bunker tanker.
“We were appreciative that our client was able to provide a terminal as an alternative to a supportive bunker tanker.
“The tanker was earlier certified to Measuring Instruments Directive (MID) standards prior to TR 48 accreditation. But the tanker operator decided to further complement the certification of their MFMS by having it accredited in accordance with TR 48 standards.”
The compulsory use of MFM technology for fuel oil bunkering was made effective at Singapore since 1 January, 2017.
Metcore, LR and oil major ExxonMobil introduced the first independently accredited MFMS to operate in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region in 2018.
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Photo credit: Metcore International
Published: 8 May, 2019
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