MPA responds to warning on CNSL biofuel bunker blends found at Singapore

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore on Monday (25 November) said to date, it has not received reports of vessels experiencing operational problems related to fuel bunkered in Singapore.

This comes following bunker fuel testing and marine surveying business Maritec Pte Ltd (CTI-Maritec) issuing a bunker flash stating testing of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) samples from ships in the Singapore and Rotterdam area which reported operational problems, indicated it was blended with Cashew Nutshell Liquid (CNSL). 

“All bunker fuels supplied in the Port of Singapore must meet the ISO 8217 standards,” MPA said. 

“The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), in consultation with relevant industry experts, has also developed a provisional national standard on specifications of marine biofuel (WA 2:2022) to supplement the international standards.”

MPA added an enhanced set of testing parameters was implemented on 1 June 2024, in addition to the existing quality assurance measures, to test the quality of fuels upstream before they are supplied as bunker fuel in Singapore.

CTI-Maritec said in the recent-past few months several ships in the Singapore and Rotterdam area reported operational problems including fuel sludging, injector failure, filter clogging, system deposits and corrosion of turbocharger nozzle rings.

In light of the reported problems, CTI-Maritec swiftly carried out extended Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) testing for Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) samples from these said vessels.

GC-MS testing by Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) method showed the presence of high concentrations (>10000 PPM) of cardol, cardanol, anacardic acid and other alkyl resorcinols. All mentioned compounds, which are substituted long chain phenols, indicated the fuel was blended with Cashew Nutshell Liquid (CNSL) from undeclared source materials or production processes.

CTI-Maritec recommended that shipowners should not use 100% CNSL as a marine fuel or use CNSL as a blending component in marine fuel, which is contrary to the guidance by IMO on best practices for suppliers on the quality of fuel oil delivered to ships.

Related: CTI-Maritec warns of CNSL biofuel bunker blends found at Singapore, Rotterdam
Related: Singapore: MPA tightens testing parameters to reduce contaminated bunker fuels

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 25 November, 2024