Business

Supplier: Hong Kong MFM bunker operations need this factor to flourish

Hong Kong bunker market facing increasing pressure from rival Shanghai, notes representative of NewOcean Energy Holdings.

Published

9 years ago

November 9, 2017

Admin

Regulation is needed in Hong Kong’s bunkering industry to allow mass flowmeter (MFM) bunkering operations to flourish.

‘Bunkering operations in Singapore are really good not only because of the MFM, but because of regulation,’ observes a representative of Hong Kong-listed NewOcean Energy Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of NewOcean Group.

‘The problem is Hong Kong has no regulator for its bunkering industry, so even if a company adopts MFM bunkering operations there is no standard regulation on which standards to use.

‘Even if firms were to install MFM on board their barges there is nobody to regulate. So, how can standards be met?’

According to the source, the Hong Kong bunker market is currently experiencing increasing pressure from Shanghai due to narrowing prices.

‘Typically, the spread between Hong Kong and Shanghai is $10 per metric tonne (pmt) with Hong Kong being on the more expensive end; but there are some days when it narrows down to $5 pmt or even lesser.

‘With increased traffic going to the world’s biggest container port, shipowners have even more reason to steam pass Hong Kong during days when the price spread is low.’

The above is also the reason why NewOcean Group started operations of Singapore-based NewOcean Fuel (Singapore) in September, he explains.

‘We set up an office in Singapore to function as a purchasing centre for our Hong Kong market so we can bypass any intermediaries and do better by purchasing fuel oil directly from the Singapore market,’ he says.

‘All the bunker volume for our Hong Kong operations is now bought using cargo from Singapore. So by setting up a purchasing center in Singapore, our logistical operations are cheaper overall and we remain competitive.’

NewOcean Group launched operations at Singapore on 31 August, 2017. The company is the second largest marine fuels supplier in the Hong Kong bunker sector.

The group owns a 70,000 mt capacity deep sea oil storage terminal in Zhuhai, China and also owns seven bunker ships in Hong Kong and 28 bunker ships inside China. It also manages more than 200,000 mt of oil storage capacity at different places in China to facilitate the purchase, storage and distribution of bunker fuels.

Photo credit: FreeImages.com/Micheal Pang

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.

Published

5 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

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.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Published

6 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

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.

Published

6 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

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