Viswa Lab: ISO8217:2010 Favours Bunker Suppliers

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday February 15, 2016

Raghuvir Bhavnani, Vice President of Viswalab Singapore Pte Ltd (Viswa Lab), says that Clause 5 and Annex B of ISO8217:2010 are lopsided in favour of bunker suppliers, protecting them from penalty if engine failure occurs as a result of poor quality or contaminated bunker fuel.

The comments came at a January 30 seminar organised by the Institute of Marine Engineers of India (IMEI) and Indian National Shipowners' Association (INSA) in Mumbai, with Bhavnani urging maritime stakeholders to be guarded and strengthen Clause 5, and oppose Annex B.

Clause 5 of ISO 8217:2010 sets out that bunkers should be free from any material that makes the fuel unacceptable for use in marine applications.

However Bhavnani notes that Annex B of ISO 8217:2010 undermines this by excusing the fuel supplier of contaminants that may be in the fuel since "analytical techniques to detect these deleterious materials are not standardised and sufficient data is not available as to what damage may be caused to marine machinery or the environment, by which of the contaminants or what combinations there of."

Bhavnani also says that the fuel suppliers hold no liability because fuel contamination can occur at refineries, storage terminals, and supply facilities.

He adds that fuel suppliers utilised their lobbying power to dilute the power of Clause 5 by introducing Annexe B on deleterious materials in its Information section.

Efforts are now being made to further dilute the usefulness of Clause 5 by including the contents of Annexe B within the operative clause 5 in the proposed 2016 standards, he says.

In October, it was reported that International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Chairman Jens Maul Jørgensen said "lots of suppliers say that they cannot get the ISO 8217:2010 specs because the refiners and cargo traders will only sell to them under the 2005 spec, therefore we need a regulation on quality from IMO."