Tricks of the Bunker Trade: Double Losses for Operators from Undeclared Fuel

by Kaivan H. Chinoy, Petro Inspect / The Bunker Detectives
Thursday September 12, 2013

On many occasions we have come across situations where the receiving vessel will be as much as involved as the supplier in dubious bunkering practices.

Often we have found that the vessel would under-declare fuel quantity which is then either sold back to the barge supplier or simply kept hidden on the vessel until an opportunity comes along to profit from this.

Ultimately, it's the operator who is affected – who can actually suffer the loss twice.

Scenario 1: Under-declaring - To Ship Owners Advantage

The excess 53 MT of fuel oil will be in favor of the owners with a loss to the charterers.

Scenario 2: Under-declaring - With the Aim to Profit for Personal Gain

Contributing factors for the loss:

  • Too much reliance on the vessel's staff.
  • No bunker stem audits are conducted which involves elaborate detective work carried out by independent third party surveying firms.
  • Ignoring non-nominating (non-receiving) tanks to be included in the overall tank measurements during stem operations.
  • Most shipping companies will engage the services of an independent surveyor to protect their interest in case of a large discrepancy in the final figures between the barge and the vessel; however, how many companies actually give clear instructions to the attending surveyor to measure all non-nominated tanks (non-receiving tanks)? Or how many surveying firms actually carry out the measurements diligently? Failing to do so leaves the operator vulnerable.

About Petro Inspect and The Bunker Detectives

Bunker Detectives

Petro Inspect, previous known only as The Bunker Detectives, are a dedicated team who primarily help ship charterers' & bunker brokers deal with bunker quantity disputes (which do not fall under P&I cover for charterers'), and also offer an exclusive service to ship charterers' dealing with 'Bad' Bunker dispute claims, such as the supply of contaminated or off- specification bunkers.

The core services provided under the banner of 'Bunker Detective' are 221B Surveys (aka Bunker Detective Surveys), Bunker Stem Surveys (aka Bunker Quantity Surveys - BQS) and Charter On/Off Hire and Condition Surveys, as well as a bunker fuel concealment detection services.

About Kaivan H. Chinoy

A qualified Mercantile Marine Officer with an MSc Degree in "Technical Management of Ship Operations," prior to founding AVA Marine Kaivan spent over 15 years involved in extensive marine operations including vessel navigation, cargo handling, accident investigations, project cargo risk management, and marine cargo surveying.

To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com