Low sulphur fuel demand causing bunker quality issues

Demand for more low-sulphur fuel for use in Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) will add to risks over bunker quality in the coming months, according  Gunnar Kjeldsen head of DNV Petroleum Services (DNVPS) in Fujairah.

Wider sourcing of heavy fuel and more blending also pose new risks, he warns, and ship operators should be doing all they can to ensure that their bunker fuel is up to spec. Engine damage, even breakdown, could be the result if not.

A spike in bunker alerts was evident following the introduction of the North American ECA a year ago, Kjeldsen points out. Problems included high density, high water content, cat fines and low flash point. Yet ship operators can easily avoid these risks with a simple 24-hour test which costs just a few hundred dollars, Kjeldsen declares. Many owners have already implemented bunker testing procedures and DNVPS has more than a thousand regular customers. But those which have do not have rigorous systems in place are facing higher risks, Kjedlsen warns.

His comments come as the marine insurance community is warned of excessive engine wear caused by cat fines in fuel oil which could lead to claims exceeding $1m. Braemar SA’s Chief Surveyor for Western Europe, Paul Hill, told a recent International Union of Marine Insurance London conference that operators should take more responsibility for the fuel they use by implementing more rigorous fuel management procedures on board.

A fall-off in good maintenance practice and the fact that many chief engineers do not know and cannot predict the quality of bunkers brought on board are part of the problem. But so too is the fact that engine-makers stipulate a maximum cat fine content in fuel of 15 ppm whilst refiners are reluctant to absorb the cost of supplying such fuel.
Source: Seatrade Global