Singapore: Sinanju Tankers Declares MFM for Distillates Delivery a Success

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday April 27, 2018

A bunker tanker operated by Singapore-based bunker company Sinanju Tankers has successfully trialled the delivery of distillate fuel by mass flow metering (MFM), the company said Friday.

Its tanker, 4,765 dwt Marine Pamela, was part of a small group of bunker tankers in the MFM working group testing the new technology.

The ship has been fitted with two units, a 4-inch meter and a 10-inch meter which are connected to their respective piping systems.

"This meter combination provides a wide range of pumping rates from as low as 14 metric tonnes/hour to 1000 metric tonnes/hour – to ensure stable and accurate measurements of low viscosity distillate fuels; accommodating to the delivery of small-sized fuel parcels, to providing higher efficiency at faster pumping rates when receiving fuel at oil terminals," the company said.

Company general manager Desmond Chong said it will be retrofitting "more than half of our fleet of 13 bunker tankers" to meet the expected increase in distillate demand from 2020.

"Some [tankers] will have distillate MFMs alongside existing marine fuel oil MFMs, while other tankers may have different sized meters for distillates only.

"We aim to equip our vessels with a meter mix that will provide commercial flexibility and efficiency to meet the requirements of our ships' charterers and the ships we bunker," he said.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore extended the MFM delivery process to distillates Friday to make it mandatory from July next year. It is estimated that around a third of the port's bunker barges are able to deliver distillates.