Business

ENGINE: East of Suez Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook

Availability good across grades in Zhoushan; South Korean ports face weather disruptions; demand picks up in Fujairah.

Published

3 years ago

April 26, 2023

Admin

ENGINE East of Suez Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook

The following article regarding regional bunker fuel availability outlook for the East of Suez region has been provided by online marine fuels procurement platform ENGINE for publication on Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times:

25 April 2023

Availability good across grades in Zhoushan
South Korean ports face weather disruptions
Demand picks up in Fujairah

Singapore

Demand has been average in Singapore so far this week. Availability of VLSFO and HSFO has gotten tighter in Singapore, where stems of both grades require lead times of 9-11 days and 5-11 days, respectively. Lead times of both grades are roughly the same as last week.

LSMGO is more readily available with shorter lead times of 4-7 days – almost unchanged from last week.

Singapore’s residual fuel oil stocks have averaged 6% higher so far in April than across March, according to Enterprise Singapore. Net fuel oil imports to Singapore have declined by 6% this month. Both imports and exports are up this month. While imports have inched up 1%, exports have surged 16%.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s middle distillate stocks have averaged 10% lower this month than in March.

East Asia

Bunker deliveries resumed at all of Zhoushan’s four anchorages on Tuesday, after being suspended by rough weather on Monday, a source says.

VLSFO and LSMGO stems require lead times of 3-5 days in the Chinese bunkering hub – virtually unchanged from end of last week. Lead times for HSFO are slightly longer at 5-7 days recommended.

Demand is healthy in Hong Kong and VLSFO and HSFO grades are tight, a source says. Both grades need lead times of around seven days. VLSFO lead times have gone up from four days, while availability of HSFO has improved from last week, when the grade was subject to enquiry. LSMGO is readily available.

Meanwhile, availability across all bunker grades has been getting tighter across South Korean ports, with lead times varying widely between 5-10 days. Lead times have increased across both southern and western South Korean ports, from 3-7 days and 4-5 days last week, respectively.

Bad weather conditions are forecast intermittently between 26-30 April, which could trigger suspensions or disrupt deliveries in the South Korean ports of Ulsan, Onsan, Daesan, Taean and Yeosu.

Adverse weather conditions are also predicted to hamper bunker deliveries in the Kiwi port of Tauranga between 25-26 April and 30 April-1 May.

South Asia

VLSFO and LSMGO can be delivered with around 2-3 days of lead time in several Indian ports, including Kandla on the northwest coast, Cochin and Chennai on the southern coast, and Visakhapatnam on the southwestern coast.

Availability of VLSFO and LSMGO remains subject to availability in India’s Mumbai. Meanwhile, availability of grades is subject to enquiry in Tuticorin on the southeast coast and Haldia on the east coast, while a supplier in Paradip is almost out of stock for both grades.

However, rough weather may disrupt bunkering in Kandla on 26 April and in the southwestern port of Visakhapatnam on 30 April, a source says.

Middle East

Lead times of 5-6 days are recommended for VLSFO and LSMGO in Fujairah – slightly lower than 5-7 days last week. But lead times have gone up for HSFO, from 5-7 days last week to around nine days now. Demand has been picking up this week in the port, a source says.

The Omani ports of Duqm, Sohar, Salalah and Muscat have good availability of LSMGO, with prompt dates available.

By Tuhin Roy

Photo credit and source: ENGINE
Published: 26 April, 2023

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

16 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