Asia/Pacific News
Despite Worries Over Singapore MFMs, Bunker Surveyor Sees Increased Demand for its Services
Despite fears that the January 1, 2017 introduction of mass flow meter (MFM) use for MFO bunkering in Singapore would lead to reduced business for the city state's bunker surveyors, Vikram Mohan, Managing Director at Viking Marine Services (Viking Marine) says he has actually witnessed an uptick in business, Platts reports.
"There is a need for good bunker surveying and inspections services in spite of mass flow meters," said Mohan.
The comments came alongside news that the Fujairah-based company has expanded its operations into Singapore.
"We used to outsource jobs here before and since there was increased demand for our services, we decided to start operations in Singapore, where we can have better quality control," explained Mohan.
Reduced demand for bunker surveyors is not the only MFM related prediction from 2016 that has since proven to be unfounded; many also believed bunker volumes at the word's biggest bunkering port by volume would also be hit.
However, last month official data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed January 2017 bunker sales hit an all-time record monthly high of 4,462,200 metric tonnes.
