Mass Flowmeter

IBIA’s position on Coriolis Mass Flow Meter adoption in bunker industry

International bunker ports will need to consider adoption of MFMs to remain relevant and utilising an established international standard offers a strong solution in this direction, says IBIA.

Published

1 year ago

August 22, 2023

Admin

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) on Monday (21 August) released an article on its position on the adoption of Coriolis Mass Flow Meters (MFMs) in the bunker industry where it pointed out that international bunker ports will need to consider the adoption of MFMs to remain relevant especially with the further use of the electronic Bunker Delivery Note (e-BDN).

Background

IBIA supports greater transparency in the bunker sector, with the Coriolis Mass Flow Meter (MFM) as one of the solutions. The joint IBIA and BIMCO survey in 2022 established a strong desire from the bunker industry to increase transparency between suppliers and buyers, reduce quantity disputes and create a level playing field for bunker suppliers and buyers.

The benefits of the MFM have been proven in the Port of Singapore where the implementing authority,

Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has mandated the use of mass flow metering system for custody transfer of all marine residual fuel oils since 2017 and since 2019 for all distillates. Supporting the implementation of MFM has been the development of Singapore Standards and mandatory application SS648:2019, which has provided a holistic approach in bunker assurance measurement, while maintaining a high-level integrity of the MFM system, through robust standardisation and audit regime, along with continual industry engagement in developments of the standards and regulations.

International Standards on Bunker Mass Flow Metering

IBIA acknowledges that some bunker ports already have in place national or regional legislation on measuring instruments such as MFMs for use in general trade or custody transfer and that these MFMs meet the prescribed requirements to ensure their readiness for oil and gas measurement. However, these requirements may not necessarily be specific to bunker fuel measurement mainly due to the complexity of bunker fuel and its operational transfers.

The International Standard Organisation’s ISO22192:2021 offers a unified approach, ensuring the MFM system installed on a specific bunker tanker conforms to the requirements of a bunker operation.

Based on the experience and knowledge gained from bunker stakeholders, ISO22192 was developed for the bunker industry to:

enhance the efficiency of the bunkering operation
promote best practices in bunker fuel measurement and
provide the fundamental principles, requirements, and procedures of the MFM system.

The standard focuses on the metering operation providing the procedures and requirements of handling the MFM system in a bunker delivery operation. The guidelines also ensure that the MFM system continues to maintain its conformity to the prescribed requirements, through equipment metrological verification and regular certification by independent inspection companies, thereby further strengthening confidence and assurance in ports that adopt MFMs for bunkering.

The IBIA Bunker Licensing and MFM Working Group supports all ports in their implementation of MFMs. An international standard like the ISO22192 will harmonise MFM practices and requirements, thus avoiding confusion among industry stakeholders.

Embracing Digitalisation

In today’s digital landscape, the adoption of MFM will support the further use of the electronic Bunker Delivery Note (“electronic BDN”) which was formally approved at MEPC 80. MFM are an important solution to streamline digitalisation for end-to-end bunker operations as this can support real time measurement and operational information needed for the use of electronic BDNs.

In this respect, it is expected that other international bunker ports will need to consider the adoption of MFMs to remain relevant and utilising an established and harmonised international standard offers a strong solution in this direction.

Photo credit: International Bunker Industry Association
Published: 22 August, 2023

Related Topics:Business - Association Technology - Digital platform Technology - Mass flowmeter

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TFG Marine, OOMCO form bunker fuel joint venture to supply in Oman ports

TFG-OOMCO will deliver bunker fuels to vessels visiting Oman’s ports of Duqm, Muscat and Sohar and offer customers a reliable and transparent bunkering provider in the Arabian Gulf.

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TFG Marine, OOMCO form bunker fuel joint venture to supply in Oman ports

TFG Marine, the international marine fuel joint venture founded by Trafigura, Frontline and Golden Ocean on Thursday (16 January) said it has established a bunker fuel joint venture with Oman Oil Marketing Company (OOMCO) to supply vessels visiting Oman’s ports of Duqm, Muscat and Sohar.

TFG-OOMCO LLC, incorporated in Oman, will combine the local knowledge of OOMCO with the international footprint, sourcing of all grades of marine fuels, infrastructure and logistics capability of TFG Marine, to offer customers a reliable and transparent bunkering provider in the Arabian Gulf.

Tarik Al Junaidi, CEO of Oman Oil Marketing Company, said: “This partnership aligns with Oman Oil Marketing Company’s efforts to develop the maritime transport and shipping infrastructure in Oman, which is in alignment with the objectives Oman Vision 2040.”

“It underscores our commitment to meeting the increasing demand of compliant, high-quality marine grades of fuel while adhering to the highest international health, safety, and environmental standards.”

“Through our partnership with TFG Marine, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and the implementation of global best practices in fuel bunkering, we strive to lead towards excellence and sustainability in the bunker fuel business in the Sultanate’s ports.”

Mark Russell, Chief Commercial Officer, TFG Marine, said: “This is TFG Marine’s first venture in the Middle East and we look forward to serving our customers in this region. Oman has a rich history as a maritime nation and is well located close to the main shipping routes connecting the Arabian Gulf and the Indian subcontinent with the rest of the world.”

The announcement follows the signing of an MOU agreement between SOHAR Port and Freezone and TFG Marine, to establish an international bunker fuel supply operation.

TFG Marine has already deployed bunker vessel Margherita Cosulich to the region to supply vessels at SOHAR’s deep-sea port. The vessel is fitted with a Mass Flow Meter (MFM), calibrated to the ISO 22192 international standard as required by SOHAR Port. SOHAR Port in February 2024 announced a mandate on the alignment of ISO 22192 standards ‘Bunkering of marine fuel using the Coriolis MFM system’ for all marine fuel supply operations within the port.

TFG Marine added it has long been an advocate of the global adoption of calibrated MFMs to bring much-needed transparency to bunkering and encouraging digitalisation in the long-term interests of the bunker industry and helping to further the decarbonisation goals of the shipping industry.

Photo credit: TFG Marine
Published: 17 January, 2025

Bunker Fuel

China: Zhoushan Port achieves 7.26 million mt annual bunker volume for 2024

Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee highlighted the progress Zhoushan Port has made in the past year including actively planning to build an alternative fuel bunkering centre.

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China: Zhoushan Port achieves 7.26 million mt annual bunker volume for 2024

Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee on Friday (10 January) said Zhoushan, the fourth largest bunkering port of the world, delivered 7.26 million metric tonnes (mt) of marine fuel in 2024.

This marked about a 3% increase from 7.04 million mt in 2023.

The committee also highlighted the progress Zhoushan Port has made in the past year including actively planning to build an alternative fuel bunkering centre.

It has successfully obtained approval for the national biodiesel promotion and application pilot project. The construction of a project to produce an annual 1 million mt of marine biodiesel has begun.

The first methanol vehicle-to-ship pilot was carried out, and the first methanol bunkering barge in Zhoushan was officially built and is expected to be put into use by the end of 2025.

The port has also improved the fuel supply efficiency of various bunkering anchorages in Zhoushan including Tiaozhumen Anchorage adding three bunkering anchorages on top of the original five and has successfully carried out night bunkering operations.

Xiushandong and Mazhi anchorages have added a total of three new bonded bunkering anchorages, which can implement all-weather and fully automatic anchorage reservations, and provide advance reservations and priority refueling services for large ships and large orders.

The committee also highlighted Dong Fang Zhao Yang becoming the first domestic bunkering barge to obtain the mass flow meter system certification under the ISO22192:2021 standard. The barge conducted a successful pilot for the bunkering of bonded fuel oil using a mass flow meter at Xiushandong Anchorage on 9 December.

A spokesperson of the committee said Zhoushan will focus on promoting alternative bunker fuels such as biofuel and LNG and accelerating the completion of methanol refuelling safety assessments.

Photo credit: Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee
Published: 14 January, 2025

Mass Flowmeter

China: Zhoushan completes pilot bonded bunkering op with mass flow meter

Bunkering barge “Dong Fang Zhao Yang” successfully refuelled Panama-flagged bulk carrier “Ocean Road” with 1,649.5 metric tonnes of bonded fuel oil at Xiushandong Anchorage.

Published

1 month ago

December 18, 2024

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Zhoushan successfully concluded a successful pilot for the bunkering of bonded fuel oil using a mass flow meter at Xiushandong Anchorage on 9 December, according to the Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee on Wednesday (11 December).

Bunkering barge Dong Fang Zhao Yang, owned by Zhejiang Free Trade Zone Dongfang Tongzhou Maritime Service Supply, successfully refuelled Panama-flagged bulk carrier Ocean Road with 1,649.5 metric tonnes (mt) of bonded fuel oil.

According to the Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee, the use of mass flow meter in bonded bunkering operations can effectively reduce trade measurement disputes, further improve the efficiency of bunkering operations and barge turnover, reduce the waiting time of international ships, and promote the “refuel and depart” procedure for foreign ships.

The pilot marked a milestone for Zhoushan to further achieve its goal to become a world first-class ship refuelling port and enhance its international competitiveness.

Zhoushan started to study and launch the pilot certification of whitelisted barges that will be fitted with a mass flow meter bunkering system in September.

As one of first bunker barges to participate in the certification, Dong Fang Zhao Yang passed a test by Singapore's Metcore International Pte Ltd on 11 October and successfully obtained the mass flow meter system certification under the ISO22192:2021 standard, laying a solid foundation for the next step in realising the use of mass flow meter data as the basis for bonded bunker fuel delivery.

Since Dong Fang Zhao Yang obtaining the international certification in October, it has used the mass flow meter delivery method to complete two orders, totalling 2,529.1 mt of high-sulphur fuel oil.

Xiushandong Anchorage has ranked first in bunkering out of the five bonded bunkering major anchorages in Zhoushan, becoming the most popular anchorage in the city among international shipowners.

According to statistics released by Zhoushan Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee, the anchorage has achieved 540,000 mt of bunkering volume from January to July this year, a year-on-year increase of 53.5% from the same period last year.

Photo credit: MarineTraffic/Peter Beentjes
Published: 18 December, 2024