Business

BunkerMAESTRO to remove ‘biggest pain point’ of bunker operators

Claritecs spokesman explains why the solution for an ‘extremely disjointed’ sector lies in its scheduling sheet.

Published

7 years ago

September 5, 2019

Admin

A digital solution developed by Singapore-based maritime solutions firm Claritecs is well on its way to remove the ‘biggest pain point’ of bunker tanker operators and more, says its Co-founder and Chief Product Officer.

Russell Gomes was presenting at the 9th Biennial Bunkering in Asia conference on Wednesday (4 September) when he shared how the tech company became convinced the solution for an “extremely disjointed” sector lies in digitisation of its scheduling sheet.

“Every bunker delivery involves many different stakeholders and parties. You've got the operators, suppliers, traders, terminals, creditors, ship agents and receiving vessels,” he told delegates.

“Each job requires a lot of communication between all the different parties before and after each delivery, and information flow is slow.

“When we analysed the problem, we found that all the essential information that needs to be shared between the various parties can be contained within the schedule.

“Secondly, it just so happens that when we speak to bunker operators, their biggest pain point is their scheduling!”

An industry survey conducted by Claritecs found bunker tanker operators coping with deliveries by either reorganising their bunkering schedule every 2-3 hours to ensure optimisation of fleet, or by simply planning big buffers around each delivery to ensure of no clashes and replanning sequences.

“What if we could make the planning for bunkering easier for everybody, and create a platform that synchronises the entire bunker supply chain and ecosystem, that can take all our customers to instant digitisation and digital transformation?” Gomes asks.

“We’re solving all these problems with our system BunkerMAESTRO, where to start-off, we’re focusing on the schedule, and we’ve built an auto-scheduling system for bunker operators.

“This solves the operators’ problem, and allows us to have a centralised system that has the schedules of the various barges, and all the associated information.

“That's what Claritecs is aiming to do. The end goal is ultimately to reduce work load and cut costs for operators, and increase the optimisation of the vessels, which means they can increase their turn rate per vessel, or use fewer vessels to handle the same number of jobs.”

To date, Claritecs has inked MOUs with bunker operators Sinanju Tankers Holdings, Sentek Marine & Trading, Global Energy Trading, United Maritime and New Maritime representing 33% of the total Singapore bunker tanker fleet to testbed BunkerMAESTRO.

It has also entered into LOIs with shipping firms CMA CGM, PCL, PanUnited, and Glory Ship Management for the similar activity.

“Now as we get the bunker operators on board, we will invite their customers and partners who are the suppliers, traders, agents or ship owners onto the platform as well,” he shares.

“The schedule contains all the operational information including pre-delivery and post-delivery information, and by having the schedule on one platform, all parties can monitor the status of the deliveries and view the information that is relevant to them.

“This information will be updated regularly by the operators and their crew, and will also contain third-party AIS information all in one place. And this will ultimately reduce the amount of inefficiencies described earlier.”

Moving forward, Gomes reveals Claritecs to be in discussions on piloting a scheduling system for an unnamed oil terminal in Singapore to allow for reduced waiting time and increase transparency for loading operations with bunker tankers.

The company also intends to increase participation of its BunkerMAESTRO test bedding program from the current 33% to 50% of the Singapore bunker tanker fleet by end of the year.

“To wrap up, we have identified that the schedule is the heart of operations, and digitising the schedule and transforming the scheduling process has helped us to take a step towards digitising the entire bunkering process and operations,” he concludes.

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 5 September, 2019

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

19 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

19 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

19 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