Asia/Pacific News
Hong Lam Marine: Mass Flow Meters Will Put 10% of Singapore's Suppliers Out of Business
Hong Lam Marine CEO, Lim Teck Cheng, has said he expects smaller bunker suppliers in Singapore to struggle to compete after the introduction of Mass Flow Meters (MFMs), Maritime CEO reports.
"When mass flow meters come in a lot of smaller players will find it difficult," said Lim, adding that 10 percent of Singapore's bunker players may cease to operate.
Lim says that he expects MFMs to increase the supply capability of Singapore's current bunkering fleet by 15 to 20 percent, which in turn will reduce the need for the same proportion of its bunker tanker capacity.
Hong Lam Marine has 25 harbour tankers as well as 12 ocean going ships, according to the report.
While optimistic for the bunkering side of the business he said things were "a bit tight now" referring to the rates being achieved by the company's fleet of chemical and product tankers.
Lim also suggested that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering was something the company was considering but stressed that the Singapore market was likely to respond to demand for the fuel rather than look to stimulate a market for it.
"It is still very early, someone has to come first with an LNG fuelled ship before we do anything," he said, adding "it is not like Europe where you have all these LNG powered ferries and [Emissions Control Areas] ECAs."
OW Bunker said last month that it expected MFMs to halve the time taken for the delivery of a normal 1,000 tonne bunker stem when compared to traditional gauging methods.
