Off-spec cases of bunker fuels lately seen in Houston and the US Gulf Region have also extended to Panama, informs protection and indemnity insurance firm UK P&I Club.
“These claims appear to relate to fuel bunkered late March-May this year, with the problems manifest variously in the form of sticking and seizure of fuel injection system components and blocking of fuel filters,” says Amanda Hastings, Claims Executive at Thomas Miller P&I Europe.
“Evidence suggests that the cause of the problems is linked to the inclusion of adulterants, or contaminants, in the fuel that are of non-petroleum refining origin.”
Hastings noted of at least two different forms of contamination involved in the Houston and Panama off-spec cases; some showed evidence of chemical waste related to bisphenol manufacturing operations, others showing evidence of bio-derived contaminants including Tall Oil, a bi-product from the timber industry.
Current standard ISO 8217 test requirements involve the determination of a series of physical and chemical characteristics, and include tests designed to assess the levels of normal manufacturing and handing impurities.
However, these do not include tests and limits for all possible contaminants that might occasionally finding their way into marine bunker fuels.
“[…] And there are materials which can adversely affect the fitness of fuel for use in a marine engine, the presence of which will not necessarily be revealed by the basic Table 1 (distillate fuels) or Table 2 (residual marine fuels) Test Requirements,” she notes.
“At present, there are only a limited number of laboratories worldwide that have the facilities to conduct the appropriate range of analyses that may be required to get to the root of the problem and, as such, scheduling is not easy at present, and the usual 24 hour turnaround, normally obtained in fuel testing programmes for the standard ISO 8217 Table 2 tests, largely unattainable for the more detailed investigative analyses.”
While sticking fuel pumps have been the only indication of a problem, Hastings recommends engineers to stop using the fuel immediately when discovering blockages of the filters.
“Stop using the fuel and segregate if possible,” she advises.
“You should retain fuel samples for laboratory analysis and any damaged/seized components (fuel injection pump barrels/plungers) should be retained for metallurgical examination/analysis.
“However, do not expect laboratory results promptly at this time – they are all congested.”
Published: 12 June, 2018
Reserve Stability Number results are ‘questionable’ as almost all additives targeting asphaltene management show effectiveness in the test, says spokesman.
In the last two weeks FOBAS has tested samples from Antwerp which had TSP results exceeding the ISO 8217 specification limit of 0.10% m/m.
‘If emissions remain high, we’ll need to cut back even more rapidly in the future and move up the zero date to keep within our carbon budget. No one wants that,’ says spokesman.
One case of 1,009 mg/kg (compared to 60 mg/kg ISO 8217:2017 standard) for cat fines detected.
The average number of spills greater than or equal to 7 mt has continuously reduced since 2010, says ITOPF.
A total of 93 instances were reported globally over the period.
‘We are here to transfer the extremely valuable knowledge gained over the past six years to the maritime sector, such that our customers are comfortable in the use of such biofuels,’ states CEO Olivier Baiwir.
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SFP will be retrofitting VPT’s existing bunker vessel with its Full Electric Ready (FER) system and seeks to commission the vessel in the second quarter of 2022, CEO of SFP George Lee tells Manifold Times.
Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services, Oldendorff Carriers, Lloyd’s Register and organisers took part in a Bunker Quality Claims Webinar moderated by Manifold Times on 10 November.
‘Though it did introduce temporary commercial and operational disruptions, we took a constructive view of the situation and chose to use this event as a learning opportunity,’ shares a Consort Bunkers spokesperson.
Gealubes Consulting & Trading, the authorised marine business distributor of PANOLIN EALs at Singapore port, shares a two-part education series on Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants on Manifold Times.
30 Nov 2021
