Asia/Pacific News
SIBCON: VPS Calls for Singapore's MPA to Ban Old ISO 8217 Standards
Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) should use its 'regulatory muscle' to ban older marine fuel specifications that a majority of shipowners are still using, according to testing company VPS.
About 30% of the company's customers are still using the 'obsolete' ISO 8217:2005 standards, and a further 60% using the 2012 ones, Rahul Choudhuri, managing director for VPS in Singapore, said at the SIBCON industry event on Wednesday.
Just 10% are using the most recent 2017 specifications, which updated guidance on cold flow properties and FAME content in distillate fuels among other improvements, he said.
"One of the things that is a big concern is the take-up of fuel quality standards," he said.
"If the industry's not going to use the standard, we are really in a tough spot.
"The MPA in Singapore has the regulatory muscle to do something more here and look at banning all these old fuel quality standards which don't apply any more."
A ban on older specifications in Singapore would immediately bring a large section of global bunker demand in line with the latest standards. But it might also risk shifting bunker demand away from Singapore to local rivals if buyers wanted to continue using the older standards for a small saving on their fuel price.
Steve Bee, global commercial and business development director at VPS, will be speaking at the IBIA Annual Convention 2020 in November.
The global convention, being held online this year for the first time, will cover three days from November 3.
To register for the convention, click here: https://www.eventora.com/en/Events/ibia-annual-convention-2020-going-global.
