Business

Dan-Bunkering trial: Court denies request sending case to European Court of Justice

‘The EU’s ban on supplies of jet fuel only applies if it has ended up with Syrians in Syria,’ argues Dan-Bunkering’s defence lawyer, Jacob Skude Rasmussen.

Published

3 years ago

November 29, 2021

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Disclaimer: An online translation service was used in the production of the current editorial piece, which Manifold Times had reproduction permission from Danish Radio (DR).

The case against Dan-Bunkering was heard in trial at the court in Odense on Thursday (25 November), according to DR.

Dan-Bunkering, a parent company of Bunker Holding and top director Keld Demant, were accused of supplying jet fuel for use in Syria in violation of EU sanctions.

Defence lawyers representing the duo on Wednesday (24 November) argued the trial court should seek assistance from the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg due to its complications.

However, the presiding judge rejected the defence's request.

Presiding judge Jens Lind said “the court does not find it necessary to ask the European Court of Justice to interpret the legal basis and make a decision in the case.”

Thereafter, the court continued its hearing session with presiding judge Jens Lind and two judges.

Disagreement over who the sanctions actually apply to

Overall, Dan-Bunkering believes deliveries of jet fuel for which they are accused do not fall within the EU’s sanctions.

According to the indictments, the jet fuel ended up in Russian fighter jets in Syria via intermediaries.

The EU’s ban on supplies of jet fuel only applies if it has ended up with Syrians in Syria,” said Dan-Bunkering's defender, Jacob Skude Rasmussen.

Russia sent fighter jets to Syria in September 2015 and began heavy bombardments in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But in 2014, Russia was not mentioned in the EU ban against the supply of jet fuel for use in Syria, Dan-Bunkering's defender explained in court.

Jacob Skude Rasmussen pointed out western countries such as Denmark and USA also sent fighter jets over Syria to bomb Islamist groups and no one in that connection has questioned where the jet fuel came from.

“The ban does not cover other countries' use of jet fuel in Syria,” the defender concluded.

“It is very far-reaching if it is private companies that have to decide who is the good or the bad in Syria,” he adds.

Accusations: Russian forces are covered

Prosecutors, on the other hand, do not believe there is any doubt the EU ban includes the Russian forces that bombed in support of the Syrian regime.

“The ban is so broadly worded that others than Syrians must be covered,” said Senior Prosecutor Andreas Laursen in court

Article 7A of the EU Syria Regulation states: It is prohibited to sell, supply, transfer or export jet fuel and fuel additives, (...) directly or indirectly to persons, entities or bodies in Syria or for use in Syria.

The senior prosecutor pointed out that when Russia entered the war, it was on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The purpose of the sanctions was to hit the Assad regime because the regime oppresses the population. Russia turned the war in Assad's favor, we have heard expert witnesses explain. Thus, the purpose of the sanctions falls into place: to prevent the repression,” adds Andreas Laursen.

A question of chain responsibility

Defence lawyers argued, no matter who the ban included, Dan-Bunkering's responsibility ended long before deliveries of jet fuel eventually reached Syria.

According to the indictment, from 2015 to 2017, the company supplied jet fuel to Russian ships that sailed it on to Syria - in some cases after the fuel had been transshipped to a new ship in the Mediterranean.

“Dan-Bunkering has only delivered jet fuel in European ports in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Malta,” said the company's defender Jacob Skude Rasmussen on Wednesday.

EU’s sanctions make it forbidden to supply jet fuel both directly and indirectly to Syria.

“But we do not believe that the word 'indirect' means that there is a responsibility for what the next link in the chain does to the product,” the defender added.

Jacob Skude Rasmussen also believed, as a third point, Dan-Bunkering can only be judged by EU law if the company knew it was infringing the ban and not alone should have known.

Note: Earlier Manifold Times coverage regarding Bunker Holding/Dan-Bunkering’s alleged breaches of EU sanctions can be found below:

Photo credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 / Luxofluxo
Source: DR
Published: 29 November, 2021

Business

Shell MGO bunker heist: Bunker clerk pleads guilty to helping Sentek acquire misappropriated fuel

Wong Wai Meng, who received more than USD 286,000 from Sentek Marine & Trading for his assistance, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of intentionally helping the firm acquire the misappropriated marine gas.

Published

7 hours ago

December 2, 2024

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A bunker clerk, Wong Wai Meng, who received more than USD 286,000 (SGD 384,681) from Singapore-based Sentek Marine & Trading (Sentek) for his assistance, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of intentionally helping the company acquire misappropriated marine gas oil, The Straits Times reported on Friday (29 November).

The 58-year-old Singaporean was employed at the Sentek when he assisted in acquiring more than 28,000 metric tonnes (mt) of the misappropriated fuel worth USD 13.58 million (SGD 18.26 million).

Wong committed the offences over 46 occasions between August 2014 and December 2017.

Wong is among the three bunker clerks previously employed by Sentek, who were charged for offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

Another bunker clerk among the three charged, Wong Kuin Wah, 61, was sentenced to seven years and six months’ jail on 18 November for his role in misappropriating more than 27,000 tonnes of gas oil worth around USD 12.8 million (SGD 17.2 million).

The third individual who was charged, Boo Pu Wen, reportedly passed away in July 2023 and had his charges abated following his death, meaning Boo’s court proceedings over his 19 charges at the time came to an end.

Former Shell employees, who were key members of a group who dishonestly misappropriated fuel from Shell Pulau Bukom, were sentenced to jail in court earlier.

Earlier coverage of developments by Manifold Times regarding the Shell MGO bunker heist can be found below:

Photo credit: Katrin Bolovtsova
Published: 2 December, 2024

Biofuel

Singapore: GCMD introduces new technique for FAME bio bunker fuel fingerprinting

Fingerprinting identifies feedstock origins of FAME-based biofuels used in shipping industry; can be used as a potential tool to detect fraud in marine fuel supply chains and ensure biofuel authenticity.

Published

7 hours ago

December 2, 2024

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Singapore: GCMD introduces new technique for FAME bio bunker fuel fingerprinting

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) on Monday (2 December) released its latest report, presenting a new technique that creates a fingerprint for Fatty Acid Methyl Esters(FAME) bio bunker fuels.

This fingerprint identifies the feedstock origins of the FAME-based biofuels used in the shipping industry.

GCMD said FAME fingerprinting is needed as the shipping sector is increasingly using biofuels, such as FAME, to reduce its GHG emissions. With that, concerns have arisen regarding the legitimacy of biofuels and whether they are truly sustainable.

Industry bodies are seeing a rising number of cases mislabelling biofuels purported to be made from recycled oils and fats, while suspicions persist that they might be produced from cheaper and less sustainable virgin oils.

“To address these concerns, FAME fingerprinting can be used as a potential tool to detect fraud in marine fuel supply chains and ensure biofuel authenticity. By providing a physical validation method that complements existing certification schemes, FAME fingerprinting can help justify the green premium with genuine environmental benefits and safeguard the integrity of marine fuels supply chain,” GCMD said.

FAME fingerprinting is based on the principle that the fatty acid profile of FAME is unique to its feedstock and can be preserved during feedstock transesterification to produce FAME. The "fingerprint" can then be compared against a database of known fatty acid profiles to identify the feedstock origin.

GCMD worked with VPS who modified existing fuel testing methods to carry out sample analyses using a gas chromatograph with flame-ionisation detection, an instrument commonly found in fuel test laboratories.

The analysis takes about an hour, comparable to the turnaround time for current marine fuel quality testing in the supply chain.

“We have tested this method on a variety of FAME samples from different suppliers, including virgin oils, used cooking oils, palm oil mill effluent, beef tallow and food waste and were able to identify the feedstock origins for each sample,” GCMD added.

Manifold Times previously reported Captain Rahul Choudhuri, President, Strategic Partnerships at marine fuels testing company VPS, forecasting the use of finger printing technology today will likely establish a blueprint of how future alternative bunker fuels’ feedstocks are authenticated.

Captain Choudhuri said this when he gave an update of VPS’ biofuels finger printing trials with GCMD.

Note: The full report, titled ‘Rapid forensic analysis of FAME-based biofuels: Potential use of its fingerprint as a fraud detection tool’, can be downloaded here.

Related: Marine Fuels 360: Fingerprinting to play key role in proving biofuel feedstock authenticity and beyond, says VPS
Related: GCMD-led consortium completes trials of sustainable biofuel bunker supply chains
Related: Dr. Nicholas Clague shares VPS’ experience with alternative bunker fuels
Related: Dubai: Shipowners and peers discuss realities of biofuel adoption at VPS Biofuels Seminar
Related: Singapore: VPS panel discussion presents a masterclass in shipping’s biofuel bunker adoption issues to the deck

Photo credit: Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation
Published: 2 December, 2024

Methanol

PLAGEN to produce and supply green methanol bunker fuel with Latvia plant

Korean firm’s MoU with AE Risinājumi will see construction of Latvia’s first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in EU’s maritime fleet.

Published

7 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Admin

PLAGEN to produce and supply green methanol bunker fuel with Latvia plant

South Korean clean energy firm PLAGEN on Friday (29 November) signed an MOU with Latvian company, AE Risinājumi, for the production of green methanol in Latvia at the “2024 Latvia-Korea Business Forum” hosted by the President of Latvia.

The agreement will result in the construction of Latvia's first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in the EU's maritime fleet, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transportation.

PLAGEN's MoU aims to produce 20,000 metric tonnes (mt) of green methanol per year and will begin feasibility studies in the first half of 2025, and full-scale production will begin in 2028.

With 53% of Latvia's land area covered by forests, timber production and wood processing make a significant contribution to Latvia’s economic production, which generates a large amount of forest residues and wood wastes. In addition, Latvia also has an abundance and low price of renewable electricity from wind power.

Latvia is one of the most competitive countries in the European Union, as it can produce clean methanol at a competitive price by using abundant wood waste as a raw material and renewable electricity from cheap wind power.

The use of abundant forest residues and wood wastes as a feedstock and cheap renewable electricity from wind power makes it possible to produce green methanol with a competitive price, making Latvia is one of the most competitive countries in the EU.

In the European Union, the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) will come into effect in 2025, requiring shipping companies to purchase carbon credits for their greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, the EU is implementing FuelEU Maritime, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2% below the 2020 average by 2025 and 80% by 2050. This is expected to result in an energy transition to green methanol.

In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a revised strategy that calls for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships to net-zero by or around 2050, and plans to introduce full-scale regulations from 2027, and shipping companies have begun ordering methanol-powered ships fueled by green methanol, a carbon-neutral fuel.

“We expect to start producing green methanol in Latvia in 2028, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from EU maritime transport vessels and contribute significantly to the revitalization of the Latvian economy and national energy security,” said John Kyung, CEO of PLAGEN.

In November 2024, PLAGEN completed the purchase of an industrial complex and received a government permit for the construction of the country's first green methanol plant in Dongjeom Industrial Complex in Taebaek City, Gangwon-do.

The project, which will produce 10,000 mt per year, is scheduled to begin construction in the first half of 2025 and begin production in the second half of 2027.

Related: Korea: Taebaek City and PLAGEN to build green methanol bunker fuel plant
Related: Korean firm PLAGEN plans green methanol production project for bunkering

Photo credit: PLAGEN
Published: 2 December, 2024