Asia/Pacific News
MPA Says Already Over Half a Million Metric Tonnes of Bunkers Delivered by MFM in Singapore Monthly
Captain M Segar, Assistant Chief Executive of Operations for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), says that prior to the January 2017 requirement for mass flow metering (MFM) use, upward of 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) of bunkers are already being delivered monthly using the technology.
"It is heartening to note that even before the mandatory use of mass flow meters from January 2017, already more than 500,000 metric tonnes of bunkers were already being delivered every month via bunker tankers equipped with MPA-approved Mass Flow Meters," said Segar.
The comments came in Segar's opening address at the MPA's launch of TR48: 2015, the world's first national standard for bunker MFM.
Official MPA data indicates the average monthly bunker sales volume in Singapore during 2015 was 3,762,970 mt, so a total of 500,000 mt of bunkers would mean that more than 13 percent of Singapore's marine fuel every month is currently being delivered via a MPA-approved MFM.
As Ship & Bunker reported earlier this month, over 26 percent of bunker tankers in Singapore are now fitted with an MPA approved MFM.
Highlighting the MPA's commitment to increasing the bunker industry's productivity, Segar noted that the MPA is working to test-bed an electronic bunker delivery note (E-BDN) mobile application, which will enable the transfer of bunkering information in near real-time.
"We have received positive feedback from the Technical Committee for Bunkering on the technical and operational aspect of this project and will be conducting trials this year," explained Segar.
"We welcome industry feedback and participation in this test bedding programme. We are also working to widen the WI-FI connectivity in our port waters."
In April 2014, MPA announced that from January 1, 2017 it will be mandatory to use a MFM system for Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) bunkering in Singapore.
