A second suspect has been found allegedly selling fuel to North Korean vessels after a raid at his house and office on Tuesday, reports the Taipei Times.
Taiwanese prosecutors spent Thursday questioning Taiwanese shipping merchant Chuang Chin-hung, who owns an unnamed Kaohsiung-based shipping firm and trading company registered in the Marshall Islands.
Chuang is suspected of loading 7,000 metric tonnes of diesel onto the Jin Hye oil tanker in December last year; the 1986-built vessel is a Sierra Leonean-registered oil tanker.
Investigations instead found the vessel making several trips between from Taichung port to an undisclosed location in the East China Sea during the months of November and December last year.
Prosecutors also believe Chuang forged export declarations by declaring the diesel delivery as being headed for Hong Kong, instead of the East China Sea.
In his defence, Chuang claimed the oil tanker was chartered to a Hong Kong businessman in 2017 and was unaware of the vessel’s activities during the charter period; he was release on a NT $2 million ($68,500) bail.
Taiwan officials are meanwhile investigating Chen Shih-hsien, who is suspected of chartering an oil tanker through the Billions Bunker Group, for delivering bunker fuel to a North Korean vessel in October last year.
Related: Billions Bunker Group registered tankers denied port entry
Related: Taiwan-based Billions Bunker Group de-registered
Related: Bunker fuel involved in sanctioned North Korea trade
Published: 2 Feb, 2018
In the event of unavailability of compliant fuel, members are required to document and evidence all steps taken to achieve compliance (Regulation 18.2.1.2).
‘We would like to express our deep gratitude to Singapore Police Coast Guard and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore for their prompt intervention that crippled the unlawful activity,’ states Alex Ow Yong.
License suspended until further notice as OBS ceased bunkering operations since April 2020 and was unable to fulfil its licensing commitments, reports Reuters.
Bulk carrier chartered by Tata Steel was detained at the Port of Narvik in Norway and released on 27 February.
Significant uptick in the number of quality claims being alleged by ship owners has also been seen since the implementation of contactless bunkering operations, notes Partner at Rajah & Tann.
Inspection found the ship was manned by 7 crew members, however 2 of the crew members, including the ship Master, are missing.
Discussions around the need to develop methanol bunkering operations are taking place at numerous ports ahead of estimated demand of above 7M mtpa by 2030, says Chris Chatterton of Methanol Institute.
‘Economics of the shipping market will be the key driver enabling methanol to be adopted at a higher pace going forth over next couple years as market begins to return to more normal rates,’ states COO.
Integr8 Fuel injunction varied by Singapore Court to allow former employees to start work at Hartree Group in December 2022 following failure to produce evidence on biofuels development plans.
Variability of sources can affect the stability and performance of biofuel bunkers produced from these feedstocks, in turn leading to difficulties in meeting regulations and industry standards, shares Bryan Quek.
Top three positive movers in 2022 were Bunker House Petroleum Pte Ltd (+7), Eastpoint International Marketing Pte Ltd (+5), and Eng Hua Company (Pte) Ltd (+6); newcomer Sinopec Fuel Oil (Singapore) gets 19th spot.
Livestock carrier also involved in earlier bunker claim with Glander International Bunkering due to remaining unpaid fuel bill of approximately USD 116,000, according to court documents obtained by Manifold Times.
