The Singapore bunker fuels sector’s quick recovery from the exit of major player Hin Leong Trading is something only few ports can pull off, believes the CEO and Board Member of international bunkering firm Fratelli Cosulich.
Timothy Cosulich was presenting at the Petrospot organised Global Bunkering Summit 2020 event on Thursday (2 September) when he pointed out the market share of Hin Leong being “quite quickly” reallocated among some new and existing players after its fall.
“The port authority and some big buyers were concerned about the potential shortage in bunker fuel and barges availability,” he said in a webinar.
“But to be honest, the supply chain proved once again to be strong and resilient. Even the exit of the largest failure was not sufficient to create a real disruption.”
He noted the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), in a timely manoeuvre, awarding two new bunker supplier licences to Minerva Bunkering and TFG Marine in April when Hin Leong Trading and its bunkering arm Ocean Bunkering Services exited the market.
“And this takes me to an important consideration,” states Cosulich.
“Singapore remains and will continue to be the largest and most important bunkering hub in the world. Not many other ports would have been able to sustain the shock of the largest player exiting the market in such a seamless way.
“Our view is that the Singapore market has now achieved a rather healthy balance in terms of barges terminals and products, and the commitment of all the key players in the industry is a further testament of the effort the port authority has made into this.
“Singapore continues to be as Sinatra once described New York: ‘If you can make it there. You can make it anywhere.’”
Photo credit: Fratelli Cosulich
Published: 7 September, 2020
Owner of Prime South should have done due diligence to ensure legitimacy of the charterer, says industry observer.
In the collision, oil tanker MT Strovolos was hit by sand carrier MV Ocean Line about 2.4 nautical miles from Tanjung Bruas Port, reports The Star.
Global Energy Trading and subsidiary of Mercuria Energy Trading bought the vessels at a Singapore auction.
Spanish bunker ports supplied 28% less fuel in June than a year earlier but showed an improvement from May, when the overall fell by 35% year on year, it said.
‘With this license, we are now open to more opportunities, and can provide support to Petronas projects.’
The vessel was discovered by the Tanjung Sedili Maritime Zone’s patrol team at 1.35 pm on Sunday (20 September) about 14 nautical miles east of Tanjung Siang.
Universal Alliance, BMS United, Digiland International, Goodwood Associates, Southernpec (Singapore), and Taigu Energy were involved in alleged circular fictitious trades of fuel oil during July 2015.
Bunker orders of ISO 8217:2010 spec LS 380 cSt 0.5% for Nord Gemini, Nord Titan, Ocean Rosemary, and Luzern were placed through global commodities trading and logistics house Trafigura Pte Ltd.
While Covid-19 concerns are important, Captain Rahul Choudhuri was quick to note this does not mean bunker fuel related issues have indeed disappeared from the shipping sector.
‘Therefore, representing the players of the Malaysian bunker industry, we sincerely hope that this matter can be refined and reconsidered immediately so that all parties benefit together,’ says communication.
Maureen Poh, a Director of Helmsman LLC, offers plain practical tips on the differences between US and EU Sanctions and shares some thoughts on what companies could do if they are potentially exposed to sanctioned entities.
‘We [Consort Bunkers] have the opinion that the bunker business in Singapore is not related to the widely reported earlier cargo commodity trading mishaps,’ company source tells Manifold Times.
