Asia/Pacific News
Bunker Detectives Establish Subsidiary in Singapore
Vancouver, Canada-headquartered marine surveying organisation Bunker Detectives today announced it has established a subsidiary in Singapore, Bunker Detective Asia Pte. Ltd.
"Establishing this office in the world's busiest bunkering port has been a really important milestone for our team as this will not only enable us to assist clients in preventing fuel thefts but also deal with post-bunker disputes," said Bunker Detective founder Kaivan Chinoy.
Effective August 15, 2014 Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) Certified surveyor Abdul Farhan has been appointed Operation Manager / Chief Surveyor of the new operation, and he will also be involved in business development and the training of new surveyors.
"We believe that we have found a 'gem' in Asia and Farhan's expertise will go a long way in assisting shipowners and charterers in recovering loss bunkers either through theft, mal-practices or simply unreported," said Chinoy.
Singapore Experience
Farhan comes from mercantile marine background with extensive hands-on experience in ship operations followed by 2 years of service in the Singapore Police Coastguard, giving him experience in both new ship building and policing.
Prior to joining us he worked with DNVPS as a senior surveyor for 4 years carrying out surveys on various ship types from small tug boats to ultra large Ore Carriers (ULOC) to ultra large Crude Carriers (ULCC), and has completed over 500 surveys.
"To date he has a personal record of finding 494 metric tonnes of unreported bunker fuel onboard a single vessel, giving approximately $300,000 in savings," said Chinoy.
Farhan has been also appointed directly by the MPA to intervene on behalf of owners and charterers for unresolved bunker disputes.
"On many occasions following a shortage dispute in Singapore the surveyor who would be hired by XYZ Company would re-gauge the tanks only once, issue the gauging report and will leave the vessel without investigating further. This is where we come in," commented Chinoy.
"What makes Bunker Detective different from our competitors – while we cannot guarantee that a dispute won't occur - but following any dispute our surveyors will stay onboard irrespective of the time it takes to solve the issue to the Masters and client's satisfaction. We use an elaborate system of checklist to prevent / deter malpractices associated with BQS Surveys which has been developed exclusively for Bunker Detective surveyors.
"It is important to understand that following a quantity dispute the success of a claim will largely depend on the nature and the quality of evidence gathered at the time the supply is made. If there is detailed contemporaneous written evidence, the ship operator will be in a much stronger position should the matter go to courts."
Contact details for The Bunker Detective Asia Pte.Ltd office are as follows:
Bunker Detective Asia Pte. Ltd
Level 42-01 Suntec Tower Three
8 Temasek Boulevard
Singapore 0389888
c: +65 9479-4700
t: +65 6829-2203
f: +65 6818-9600
