Singapore Suppliers Offering Discounts to Avoid Bad Bunker Claims: Reports

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday August 17, 2018

Some suppliers in Singapore are offering bunkers at a discount in an effort to avoid quality claims, according to industry sources.

Indeed, Argus Media this week quoted one trader saying certain suppliers were offering fuel known to be contaminated at between $5 to $8/mt below the going market rate.

The presumed logic is that there would have been some effort to blend the fuel to reduce contamination to non-problematic levels, offering the potential for big savings if a buyer is willing to take the risk.

After emerging in the US Gulf market in April, in August FOBAS issued an alert over similar so-called "bad bunker" problems in the Singapore market.

When burning the suspect fuels, operators report issues that typically involve the sticking of fuel plungers, blocked fuel filters, and/or fuel-pump seizures and failures.

While the problem fuels typically contain unusual levels of phenols, they have passed conventional testing and otherwise meet the chemical requirements for bunkers as per ISO 8127.

However, Clause 5.3 of ISO 8217 states that: "Fuels shall be free from any material that renders the fuel unacceptable for use in marine applications."

Certain suppliers in the Singapore market are reported to quoting lower prices based on contracts that do not reference Clause 5.