Singapore's Contaminated HSFO Came From Khor Fakkan: MPA

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday May 5, 2022

The contaminated HSFO that damaged around 80 ships bunkering in Singapore in February and March originally came from Khor Fakkan, according to the city-state's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA).

The MPA's investigations have concluded that the contaminated fuel was loaded at Khor Fakkan in the UAE and shipped to storage facilities in Malaysia for further blending before being delivered to Singapore, local news provider the Business Times reported on Thursday.

Last month the MPA named global commodities firm Glencore as the original supplier of the contaminated HSFO, and said some had also been sold via PetroChina.

A total of about 200 ships received the fuel, of which about 80 subsequently reported problems with fuel pumps and engines.

Both Glencore and PetroChina conducted standard quality testing on the fuel, but these tests did not detect the chlorinated hydrocarbons that caused the engine damage, according to Thursday's report.

The MPA and the Singapore Shipping Association are now looking into strengthening the quality assurance of bunkers supplied in Singapore, and are calling for an industry expert group to establish which chemicals should additionally be tested for and at what concentrations, the Business Times said.

A survey conducted by brokerage NSI last month suggested there may be widespread support among bunker buyers for mandatory GCMS testing of marine fuels, in addition to the conventional ISO 8217 tests.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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