Positive Start for New ARA-Based Bunkering Concept

TMF says it has arranged several successful bunker supplies in Rotterdam and Amsterdam on behalf of its customers

Transmarinefuels BV (TMF) has hailed a positive start to its new ARA-based bunkering concept, telling Ship & Bunker that since it's launch last October it has arranged several successful bunker supplies in Rotterdam and Amsterdam on behalf of its customers.

TMF is a subsidiary of bunker inspection and expediting company Nautisch Expertise Bureau van de Laarschot (Van de Laarschot), with Dutch bunker industry veteran Jan-Piet Oosterlee heading up the firm's commercial activities and operations.

"With the founding of this company we have introduced a totally new worldwide concept in the Bunker Industry. We are not a trader or traditional broker, we are an advisory brokerage," Oosterlee told Ship & Bunker in a recent interview.

"We always work only and exclusively on behalf of bunker receivers, never the supplier."

TMF says its goal is simple: "We ensure to the receiver, who is paying our commission, that all the ordered and paid for product will get into the vessel," said Oosterlee.

To achieve that, he says that once TMF receives a bunker inquiry it will only take it to suppliers it knows and can trust, and who have already agreed to its terms and conditions.

"That's the big difference. The supplier is co-operating with us," he said.

Bunker quality is then backed up by Van de Laarschot's inspection services.

"Van de Laarschot handles bunker quantity surveys. They can carry out sampling for both the customer and the bunker supplier, and is always being present during the total bunker supply from the beginning till the end," said Oosterlee.
"The Trans in Transmarinefuels is not for 'transport' it is for 'transparant'."

Hard Sell

There is an obvious downside to the proposition, Oosterlee admits, which has made it "hard to sell" to some in the industry.

"The bunker buyer is often just looking to the lowest price. His boss wants him to buy lower, and if he buys through us it will be a little higher," he says.

Adding to the problem is the fact that within larger fleets, the chief engineer will often not report cases of short delivery.

"When he has a discrepancy in supply of, say 20 or 30 tonnes on Fuel Oil parcels or say 5 to 10 tonnes on Gasoil or Ultra Low Sulphur parcels, to avoid the hassle of reporting it he'll just record a higher consumption figure so the buyer won't even know if they dealt with a good supplier," explained Oosterlee.

However smaller ship owners who have often been chief engineers themselves are better placed to understand where savings can be made.

"Yes they will pay a little more per ton on paper, but they will get the whole volume, and there will be no time spent dealing with disputes. So overall it results in cost and time saving," he said.

"Technology such as mass flow meters I have seen work well to ensure correct delivery volume, but I have also seen these systems be bypassed.

"The best way to guarantee volume is by knowing and working with counter-parties you can trust. This is what we provide."