French energy giant TotalEnergies on Monday (25 November) has paused any new investments in the Adani group of companies, following announcements by the US authorities of the indictment of certain individual Adani group executives in relation to an alleged corruption scheme linked to the business of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL).

The firm added the indictment does not target AGEL itself, nor any AGEL related companies.

“Until such time when the accusations against the Adani group individuals and their consequences have been clarified, TotalEnergies will not make any new financial contribution as part of its investments in the Adani group of companies,” it said in a statement. 

TotalEnergies, which is “not targeted nor involved in the facts described by such indictment”, said it will take all relevant actions to protect its interests as a minority (19.75%) shareholder of AGEL and as a joint-venture partner (50%) in project companies with AGEL.

“TotalEnergies recalls that its investments in Adani’s entities were undertaken in full compliance with applicable laws, and with TotalEnergies’ own internal governance processes pursuant to due diligence and representations made by the sellers. In particular, TotalEnergies was not made aware of the existence of an investigation into the alleged corruption scheme,” the company added. 

In January 2021 TotalEnergies acquired a minority interest in the listed company Adani Green Energy Limited of which it now owns 19,75%. As part of its strategy to enhance its development in renewables in India through direct access to a portfolio of assets, TotalEnergies also has acquired 50% stake in 3 JVs operating renewable assets (AGEL23 in 2020, AREL9 in 2023, AREL64 in 2024).

It was reported that a US District Court in New York has indicted Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and several senior business executives for their alleged roles in a multi-billion-dollar bribery and investor fraud scheme.

Adani, 62, was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. 

It was alleged that Adani and seven other senior business executives offered over USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.

In a statement, Adani Group said the allegations by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the directions of Adani Green are “baseless and denied”. 

It added all possible legal recourse will be sought. 

Photo credit: Venti Views on Unsplash
Published: 26 November, 2024 

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 

Bunker fuel testing and marine surveying business Maritec Pte Ltd (CTI-Maritec) on Thursday (21 November) issued an alert regarding testing of VLSFO samples from ships in the Singapore and Rotterdam area which reported operational problems indicated it was blended with Cashew Nutshell Liquid (CNSL): 

Findings & Insights:

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.

CNSL is a non-FAME BioFuel, which is a naturally occurring byproduct of the cashew nut industry and acts as a low-cost alternative renewable fuel. It’s a substituted phenol, which is highly reactive and less stable owing to its high iodine value. The application of CNSL is known in the production of plastic, resin, adhesives, laminates, and surface coatings. CNSL has high acid values and is therefore highly corrosive as well. High Potassium found in CNSL blend fuels cause serious post-combustion deposits and corrosion of turbocharger nozzle rings.

The latest version of ISO:8217 specifies the accepted BioFuels such as FAME based biofuels, Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), defined by the specifications of EN 14214, ASTM D6751 and EN 15940 respectively. 

These fuels are now established and acknowledged by equipment manufacturers (OEM), Classification Societies (Class) and flag Administrations as ‘drop-in’ fuels. There is no specification available for CNSL from any authorised body like above.

CTI-Maritec Recommendations:

CTI-Maritec recommends 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.

MEPC.1 /Circ. 875/Add.1 section ‘5’ – where it states that:

5.3 Blend components should be tried and tested so that their typical properties and suitability for bunker production and how they combine with other components is well understood…… and

5.4 Where there are any uncertainties as to the nature and quality of blend component, any issue should be identified and resolved before its use in the production of bunkers.

Furthermore, CTI-Maritec recommends not using unestablished bioproducts in marine diesel engines. Blending these substances in a marine fuel might meet specifications as per ISO:8217 tables 1 and 2 parameter limits but may not fulfil general requirements of compliance as per Clause 5 of ISO:8217.

Photo credit: Louis Reed from Unsplash
Published: 21 November, 2024