Connect with us

Events

MEBC 24 returns for ninth year in February to provide insights on Middle East bunker market

Middle East Bunkering Convention returns to Dubai to offer expert comment and informed debate about issues impacting global marine fuel sector and to provide focus on Middle East bunker market.
Admin

Published

3 years ago

on

David Rodrigo on Unsplash

The Middle East Bunkering Convention (MEBC) will return to Dubai in February for its ninth year to offer expert comment and informed debate about the issues and challenges impacting the global marine fuel sector and, as always, to provide a sharp focus on the evolving Middle East bunker market.

From the vantage point of early 2024, MEBC will consider the commercial outlook for the industry amid escalating geopolitical tensions and a tough and complicated sanctions landscape. Speakers at the conference will consider how vessel trading patterns may be changing in response to a volatile economic climate, on a global scale and regionally. They will consider if ‘deglobalisation’ is set to become a future trend and how might this affect various vessel segments?

Environmental regulation will be one of the key topics at this year’s MEBC. Speakers and delegates will consider the impact of CII and EEXI a year on since their implementation by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as well as the new ambitions in the IMO’s revised greenhouse gas strategy which was hammered out at MEPC.

A raft of legislation will come into play in Europe in 2024 as part of the European Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ measures. These regulations, such as the inclusion of shipping in the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS), will impact all vessels that call at European ports. MEBC will consider the possible ramifications of such regulations on shipping and bunkering companies.

COP28, held in Dubai in late 2023, was seen as be a barometer for the world’s progress towards net or absolute zero, and MEBC24 will provide a platform for debate on the outcomes of this crucial meeting as they relate to shipping. The Middle East is fast becoming a key producer of new, low carbon energy sources and MEBC speakers will look at how this is impacting on shipping, bunker supply, and the region’s ports.

As new fuels enter the bunker supply chain, MEBC24 will ask how marine fuel physical suppliers and traders are planning to adapt to what will be both a new commercial and operational environment. Also, while decarbonisation is the end goal, fossil-based bunker fuels are likely to be bought and sold for some years to come. As such, MEBC will offer a very useful platform for a discussion on the current global market environment for marine fuels – and the Middle East market in particular – including pricing, availability of fuel grades, and issues such as fuel quality and quantity challenges.

The use of mass flow meters (MFMs) for increased transparency in bunker deliveries has often been on the agenda of MEBC. In 2024, as the key European bunker hubs of Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges mandate the use of MFMs, MEBC will ask if the time is right for the wider of adoption of MFMs in the UAE and the wider Middle East region.

Photo credit: David Rodrigo on Unsplash
Published: 26 December, 2023

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

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.

Admin

Published

20 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

RESIZED Sora Shimazaki on Pexels

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.

Related: Singapore: Hin Leong Founder OK Lim gets jail term slashed to 13.5 years

 

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

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.

Admin

Published

21 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

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

Continue Reading

LNG Bunkering

CIMC SOE secures order for 12,000-cbm LNG bunkering vessel from Sinopec Clean Energy

Once operational, the vessel is expected to strengthen Sinopec’s domestic coastal LNG bunkering network and help address gaps in China’s alternative fuel bunkering infrastructure.
Admin

Published

21 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

CIMC SOE secures order for 12,000-cbm LNG bunkering vessel from Sinopec Clean Energy

China’s Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co., Ltd. (CIMC SOE) recently signed a contract with Sinopec (Beijing) Clean Energy Co., Ltd. to build a 12,000-cubic metre (m3) LNG bunkering vessel, according to Chinese maritime media.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2028 and will support Sinopec’s efforts to expand its presence in the marine clean energy sector.

Once operational, the vessel is expected to strengthen Sinopec’s domestic coastal LNG bunkering network and help address gaps in China’s LNG bunkering infrastructure.

With this signing , CIMC Pacific Offshore Engineering’s LNG bunkering vessel orderbook is further strengthened, maintaining its leading position in the global market for small and medium-sized LNG bunkering vessels.

The contract also marked another milestone for CIMC SOE, which has seen a sharp increase in orders and business performance this year amid a surge in domestic LNG vessel demand.

 

Photo credit: Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

Trending