Asia/Pacific News
Singapore MFMs: Bunker Prices Will Be Higher on Paper, But You'll Actually Save
Delegates gathered in Singapore last week for the SIBCON 2014 Pre-Conference Symposium have heard that mass flow meters (MFMs) will eradicate quantity disputes at the port, and although the technology's introduction will see bunker prices rise, overall buyers will actually save money.
"Pricing on paper is high, but in terms of turn around costs, you will actually save," said Simon Neo, Executive Director, Piroj International.
"For 1,000 tonnes, you will save $2,500."
The savings, Neo argued, would come from a combination of factors including bunker buyers actually getting the quantity of fuel they paid for as quantity related malpractice would be eliminated, and the fact that the bunkering process itself will be quicker.
Iain White, field marketing manager, ExxonMobil Marine Fuels & Lubricants has previously told Ship & Bunker that the savings amount to $7,000 and a reduced bunkering time of up to three hours per delivery.
Forcing entrained air into bunkers to make it appear as though a greater volume of bunkers have been delivered that is actually the case, know as the cappuccino bunker effect, is a common bunker malpractice that MFMs are specifically being targeted to prevent, and Neo warned that suppliers trying to deliver bunkers with entrained air through a MFM could end up loosing money.
This, he says, is because aerated bunkers might not register at all through the mass flow meter, so what the MFM calculated as 1,000 tonnes might actually have been 1050 tonnes.
"And no supplier can loose 50 tonnes," he noted.
This week the Bunker Detectives advised that when bunkering with a mass flow meter, ship operators should still take an opening tank sounding before bunkering begins.
