Mass Flow Meters Are Not a Magic Box to Solve the Bunker Industry's Problems: Muhtaroglu

Mustafa Muhtaroglu is Chief Executive of Turkish supplier Energy Petrol

Mass Flow Meters (MFMs) are not a "magic box" that will solve all of the problems in the bunker industry, but rather the route to a better industry is to focus on better people, Mustafa Muhtaroglu, Chief Executive of Turkish supplier Energy Petrol has told Ship & Bunker.

"For a better bunker industry, we first need reliable companies, intensive experience, humansence, and the right people," he said.

The profile of MFMs as a tool to address malpractice in the industry was recently given a boost by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), who will make the use of the technology mandatory for MFO bunkering in Singapore from January 1, 2017 - the first port in the world to do so.

Muhtaroglu is clear that he is not against the technology, but says he his surprised that the industry has taken so long to adopt it.

"MFM is 1970's technology that the bunker industry has discovered 35 years later; it is really not a magic box solving all our problems in the bunker industry," he said.

"Moreover, we already know that there are very serious problems when using it and it takes a very long time to have it working properly."

Instead, he suggests investment in people is the key to improving the wider industry.

"If people are not reliable, then technology can not help," he said.

"So I say we, first of all, have to invest for our people. If other dynamics of our industry are not balanced, then we can not achieve the desired result by using MFM only. I always believe that ship owners and bunker buyers find the best supplier for them, so it is not only a matter of MFM - there are much more important factors buyers very well know and honour."

Another point Muhtaroglu stresses is that at many of the world's premier bunker terminals, the barge loading process already involves a high level of technology.

"So it comes to the point that you don't trust your barges, and this is a serious point of conflict for some suppliers. Some are putting MFMs on the barge in the hope you will then trust them, but I know some very unreliable companies with inappropriate history who are trying to recover their bad reputation by using MFMs. But the industry knows who is who," he said.

"That's why we own and manage all our barges and control the whole supply chain. As Energy Petrol in Turkey we bring cargoes by our own tankers, always source from the same refinery, store them always in the same tanks in a state of the art terminal, load barges by high technology, and supply by our owned barges which gives perfect results. This is a quality supply chain, not only MFM at the end."

To that end, Muhtaroglu says this process has enabled Energy Petrol to complete some 50,000 bunker supplies in Turkey without any serious quality and quantity problems.

The latest information from Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) indicates that for 2015, Energy Petrol has a 16 percent share of the country's bunker market by volume, having seen a 38 percent year-over-year increase in its annual bunker sales volume.