Bunker Fuel

ENGINE: Europe & Africa Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook (8 May 2024)

HSFO tightness has eased in the ARA; rough weather may impact bunkering in Gibraltar; VLSFO supply has tightened in Nacala.

Published

7 months ago

May 9, 2024

Admin

The following article regarding Europe and Africa bunker fuel availability has been provided by online marine fuel procurement platform ENGINE for post on Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times:

HSFO tightness has eased in the ARA
Rough weather may impact bunkering in Gibraltar
VLSFO supply has tightened in Nacala

Northwest Europe

Availability of all three grades is normal in Rotterdam and the wider ARA hub. HSFO supply tightness in Rotterdam has eased coming into this week, according to a trader. Lead times for HSFO have come down from last week's 4-6 days to 3-5 days now.

Lead times for LSMGO and VLSFO grades have remained unchanged since last week. While lead times of 3-5 days are recommended for LSMGO, VLSFO requires 4-5 days of lead time, according to a trader.

The ARA’s independently held fuel oil stocks averaged 2% lower in April than across March, according to Insights Global data.

The region imported 252,000 b/d of fuel oil in April, slightly down from 254,000 b/d in March, according to data from cargo tracker Vortexa.

The US emerged as the ARA’s biggest fuel oil import source in April, accounting for 16% of the region’s total imports. The UK ranked second, accounting for 12% of the region’s total imports, followed by France (11%), Mexico and Saudi Arabia (9% each).

The ARA hub’s independent gasoil inventories — which include diesel and heating oil — averaged 5% higher in April than in March. Gasoil stocks have risen to their highest levels since June last year. The region imported 358,000 b/d of gasoil in April, down from 373,000 b/d imported in March.

The German port of Hamburg has normal availability across all bunker grades. Some suppliers are able to offer prompt delivery dates for grades. A trader advises lead times of 3-5 days for all grades for maximum coverage from suppliers.

Bunker fuel availability has improved off Skaw, but securing prompt supply remains a challenge. Recommended lead times have come down from 10-14 days seen in the past week to 7-10 days now, a trader says. Weather disruptions could complicate bunker deliveries off Skaw on Thursday, a source said.

Mediterranean

Availability is normal in Gibraltar, but rough weather conditions have pushed lead times further ahead. Lead times for all grades have increased from last week's 3-5 days to 4-6 days now. Wind gusts ranging between 16-28 knots are forecast to hit Gibraltar from Wednesday onwards, which could disrupt bunker operations until Saturday. Winds at the higher end of that range can pose problems for bunker deliveries by barges.

In the Canary Islands’ port of Las Palmas, availability is normal. All three bunker fuel grades are available for prompt delivery, according to a trader. Lead times of 3-5 days are recommended for all three grades in the port.

Bunker demand has been mostly steady in other Mediterranean ports, including Piraeus, Malta Offshore and Istanbul, a trader said.

Prompt availability is tight in the Greek port of Piraeus, with lead times of 3-4 days advised for all grades. Bunkering activity was mostly minimal during the weekend and on Monday due to the Orthodox Easter Holidays, a trader told ENGINE. Adverse weather is forecast to hit Piraeus between Thursday and Saturday, which may hamper bunkering in the area, according to a source.

Off Malta, availability is normal across all grades, but securing grades for very prompt delivery dates (0-2 days) can be difficult, a trader said. One trader advises lead times of 3-4 days for all grades in the port. The weather is forecast to remain rough until Saturday, which could impact bunkering there.

In Turkey’s Istanbul port, availability is slightly tight for prompt dates, and lead times of 3-4 days are advised for all grades, a trader said.

Vessel traffic was temporarily suspended in the Bosphorus Strait for both directions on Tuesday after a vessel ran aground earlier in the day. Istanbul's bunkering was unaffected due to the closure, with most local suppliers offering bunkers to ships in the port, a trader said. The Strait was opened to vessel traffic later that day after Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety refloated the vessel.

Africa

VLSFO is available for non-prompt delivery dates in the South African ports of Durban and Richards Bay. Lead times of 7-10 days are recommended for the grade in these ports.

LSMGO availability is also available in Durban, with lead times of 7-10 days advised by a trader. Wind gusts of up to 29 knots on Wednesday and 35 knots on Saturday may impact bunkering in Durban.

VLSFO availability has been tight in Mozambique’s Nacala amid high demand for the grade in the port. In contrast, LSMGO availability is better, but demand for the grade has been low, a source told ENGINE. HSFO demand has been steady, and the grade is reported to be good in terms of availability in the port.

Maputo in Mozambique has good availability of both VLSFO and LSMGO, a source said. Demand has been steady for both grades in the port.

Offshore bunker operations have remained suspended in Algoa Bay since last September, when the South African Revenue Service (SARS) detained bunker barges due to import duty disputes. Since then, bunker supply has been limited to in-port deliveries by one supplier in Port Elizabeth, where supply is only available by truck.

By Manjula Nair

Photo credit and source: ENGINE
Published: 9 May 2024

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Business

Singapore: Sing Fuels appoints Sanket Naik as Managing Director

Sanket joined Sing Fuels in 2016 as a Credit Manager and has ‘immersed himself’ in all departments; will drive company to expand into areas like sustainability and biofuels.

Published

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December 9, 2024

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Singapore: Sing Fuels appoints Sanket Naik as Managing Director

Singapore-based provider of marine fuel solutions Sing Fuels on Saturday (7 December) said Sanket Naik, was recently promoted to Managing Director of Sing Fuels.

The firm said Sanket joined Sing Fuels in 2016 as a Credit Manager.

“He immersed himself across all departments, ranging from investment to business development, gaining a 360-degree understanding of the business and serving as a key driver of growth and success at Sing Fuels,” Sing Fuels said in a social media post.

“As Managing Director, Sanket is poised to drive Sing Fuels 3.0, expanding into areas like sustainability and biofuels, ensuring we stay at the forefront of industry innovation.”

Photo credit: Sing Fuels
Published: 9 December, 2024

Legal

Vietnam: Two vessels seized over 31,000 litres of illegal diesel oil

Vietnam Coast Guard said vessels were transporting various quantities of oil material: “HP-3790” was transporting about 16,000 litres and “Phuong Nam 68” transported about 15,000 liters.

Published

10 hours ago

December 9, 2024

Admin

The Vietnam Coast Guard on Thursday (5 December) said it detained vessel HP-3790 in the sea bordering Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh Province.

The Coast Guard discovered the ship at 2pm on 4 December displaying several suspicious signs and ordered the vessel to stop for administrative inspections.

The authority proceeded to inspect the vessel, which had three crew members on board, and found it to be transporting about 16,000 litres of diesel oil with no invoices or documents proving its legal origin.

HP 3790

The Coast Guard also detained another ship, Phuong Nam 68, that also had three crew members on board at 10am on 5 December.

The ship was transporting about 15,000 liters of DO oil with no invoices or documents proving its legal origin.

As such, the ships were handed over to the Command of Coast Guard Region 1 for further investigation and handling in accordance with the provisions of law.

Photo credit: Vietnam Coast Guard
Published: 9 December, 2024

Alternative Fuels

DNV: Use of ammonia as a bunker fuel among highlights in IMO MSC 109

Amendments to the IGC Code to enable the use of ammonia cargo as fuel were adopted and interim guidelines for the general use of ammonia as fuel were approved during session.

Published

10 hours ago

December 9, 2024

Admin

Classification society DNV on Saturday (7 December) shared a statutory news article that provides a summary of the 109th session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109) including adopted amendments to the IGC Code to enable the use of ammonia cargo as fuel and approved draft interim guidelines for ammonia as a marine fuel.

The following is an excerpt from the news update relating to bunker fuels:

The 109th session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109) was held from 2 to 6 December 2024. Amendments to the IGC Code to enable the use of ammonia cargo as fuel were adopted, and interim guidelines for the general use of ammonia as fuel were approved. The IGF Code was amended to improve the safety of ships using natural gas as fuel. MSC 109 further approved draft SOLAS amendments to enhance the safety of pilot transfer arrangements and progress was made on the new safety code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships.

Meeting highlights

Adopted amendments to the IGC Code to enable the use of ammonia cargo as fuel
Adopted amendments to the IGF Code for ships using natural gas as fuel
Approved draft interim guidelines for ammonia as fuel
Approved draft amendments to SOLAS Regulation V/23 and the related performance standards to improve the safety of pilot transfer arrangements
Advanced the non-mandatory Code on Maritime Autono- mous Surface Ships (MASS)

Amendments to mandatory instruments

Ammonia cargo as fuel (IGC Code) MSC 109 adopted amendments to Paragraph 16.9.2 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code) to enable the use of ammonia as fuel on ammonia carriers.

An MSC circular to encourage the voluntary early implementation of the amendments to Chapter 16 was approved.

The amendments will enter into force on 1 July 2026.

Safety of ships using natural gas as fuel (IGF Code)

MSC 109 adopted amendments to the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code), based on experience with the code since its entry into force in 2017.

The amendments include:

Clarified application provisions
Alignment with the IGC Code on suction wells for fuel tanks extending below the lowermost boundary of the tank
Alignment with the IGC Code on discharge from pressure relief valves to discharge to tanks under certain conditions
Clarified requirements to fire insulation for deck structures in relation to fuel tanks on open deck
Clarified requirements for hazardous ducts through non-hazardous spaces and vice versa
Updated requirements for the hazardous zone radius for fuel tank vent mast outlets, increasing to 6 metres for zone 1 and 4 metres for zone 2

The amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2028.

Goal-based new ship construction standards

Goal-based standards (GBS) for the new construction of bulk carriers and oil tankers are, conceptually, the IMO’s rules for class rules. Under the GBS, IMO auditors use guidelines to verify the construction rules for bulk carriers and oil tankers of class societies acting as Recognized Organizations (Resolution MSC.454(100)).

Initial GBS verification of Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia (BKI) BKI has requested GBS verification of their ship construction rules for bulk carries and oil tankers. MSC 109 agreed that the BKI rules comply with the GBS, provided non-conformities and observations are rectified and verified in a new audit.

North Atlantic wave data (IACS Recommendation No. 34, Revision 2) MSC 109 noted that IACS is currently undertaking a review of its Common Structural Rules (CSR) for bulk carriers and oil

tankers to reflect advances in data, materials, technologies and calculation methodologies. The CSR are implemented in the individual class rules of the IACS members, which are subject to compliance with the GBS.

MSC 109 further noted that IACS has now issued a revision of the North Atlantic wave data to ensure more scientific data as a basis for the rule formulas in the CSR. The new scatter diagram in Revision 2 of IACS Recommendation No. 34 shows the probability of occurrence of different sea states and is based on wave data from advanced hindcast wave models combined with ships’ AIS data for all SOLAS vessels in the period from 2013 to 2020.

MSC 109 agreed that an observation from the initial CSR audit in 2015, that the scatter diagram in Revision 1 of IACS Recommendation No. 34 was based on past statistics, was now considered addressed.

MSC 109 further invited IACS to provide more information about the assumptions, modelling and technical background for Revision 2 of IACS Recommendation No. 34, and agreed that the GBS audit of the revision to follow should be carried out in conjunction with the consequential rule changes in the CSR.

New technologies and alternative fuels

Identification of gaps in current IMO instruments MSC 109 continued its consideration of potential alternative fuels and new technologies to support the reduction of GHG emissions from ships from a safety perspective. The intention is to identify safety obstacles, barriers and gaps in the current IMO instruments that may impede the use of the various alter- native fuels and new technologies.

MSC 109 agreed to add “swappable traction lithium-ion battery containers” to the list of alternative fuels and new technologies. The list already includes fuels and technologies such as ammonia, hydrogen, fuel cell power installations, nuclear power, solar power, wind power, lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitor energy storage technology.

Recommendations to address each of the identified barriers and gaps in the IMO regulatory framework will be considered in a Correspondence Group until MSC 110 (June 2025). Application of the IGF Code

MSC 109 agreed on draft amendments to SOLAS to clarify that the IGF Code applies to ships using gaseous fuels, whether they are low-flashpoint or not. The term “gaseous fuels” was added to the definitions in SOLAS Regulation II-1/2 and to the application provisions of SOLAS Regulations II-1/56 and 57.

The draft amendments are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2027, subject to adoption by MSC 110 (June 2025).

Carriage of cargoes and containers

Ammonia as fuel

MSC 109 approved draft interim guidelines for the safety of ships using ammonia as fuel.

Ships carrying liquefied gases in bulk (IGC Code)

MSC approved draft amendments to the IGC Code to incorporate the large number of Unified Interpretations developed since the latest major review of the code, which entered into force in 2016. The primary objective of the draft amendments is to remove ambiguity and promote the consistent implementation of the IGC Code requirements.

Photo credit: CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
Published: 9 December, 2024