The Lloyd’s Register Fuel Oil Bunkering Analysis and Advisory Service (FOBAS) recorded 97 off-spec cases between 15 to 31 March in accordance to ISO 8217:2017 standards.
The most cases were found at the ports of Singapore (20), Rotterdam (4), Amsterdam (3), Mersin (3) and Santos (3).
The majority of cases at Singapore were related to pour point (12) as Singapore does not supply zero degrees pour point for bunkers.
However, two off-spec cases concerning Aluminium + Silicon, also known as cat fines, are more serious and of concern, believes a local source.
“A cat fine value of over 100 is considered very very high according to 8217:2017 which states the limit at 60; even looking back at 8217:2005 the maximum for cat fine is 80, so a value of 100 plus is way over,” he says.
“Shipowners should be very careful how they use this stem of bunker fuel. If it were me, I will most likely debunker as such high cat fines will cause damage to machinery and the main engine.
“However, the two isolated cases of off-spec cat fines in Singapore does not reflect the whole supply chain and overall situation in Singapore.”
The top off-spec bunker ports for the period between 15 to 31 March 2018 are as follows:
| Port | Characteristic | ISO 8217 Limit or Advised Value |
Final result | Unit |
| Singapore | Aluminium + Silicon | 60* | 103 | mg/kg |
| Singapore | Aluminium + Silicon | 60* | 100 | mg/kg |
| Singapore | Density at 15oC | 0.9900** | 0.9933 | kg/l |
| Singapore | Density at 15oC | 0.9908** | 0.9930 | kg/l |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 9 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 9 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 9 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 9 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Pour point | 0* | 6 | oC |
| Singapore | Vanadium | 150* | 175 | mg/kg |
| Singapore | Water | 0.50* | 0.70 | % Volume |
| Singapore | Water | 0.50* | 0.80 | % Volume |
| Singapore | Water | 0.50* | 0.70 | % Volume |
| Rotterdam | Sulphur | 0.09** | 0.12 | % Mass |
| Rotterdam | Viscosity at 40oC | 5.99** | 6.0 | cSt |
| Rotterdam | Viscosity at 50oC | 698.0** | 731.6 | cSt |
| Rotterdam | Viscosity at 50oC | 698.8** | 755.7 | cSt |
| Amsterdam | Viscosity at 50oC | 377.0** | 411.1 | cSt |
| Amsterdam | Viscosity at 50oC | 377.0** | 411.5 | cSt |
| Amsterdam | Viscosity at 50oC | 377.0** | 406.6 | cSt |
| Mersin | Viscosity at 50oC | 377.9** | 403.8 | cSt |
| Mersin | Viscosity at 50oC | 377.9** | 399.00 | cSt |
| Mersin | Viscosity at 50oC | 370.7** | 404.8 | cSt |
Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 4 April, 2018
Viscosity issues were the main cause of off-specs at Singapore, Koh Si Chang Transhipment Area, and Ust Luga port.
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