Surprise Improvement in Bunker Fuel Quality After Introduction of New ECA Rules

Steve Bee, Global Business Director, Intertek (Lintec) ShipCare Services

Data from fuel testing agency Intertek shows that so far in 2015 there has been a surprise improvement in bunker quality, despite the introduction of new sulfur regulations at the beginning of the year.

As Ship & Bunker reported last year, Steve Bee, Global Business Director, Intertek (Lintec) ShipCare Services, previously noted that it has been well documented that changes in legislative requirements has had a knock on effect on bunker quality, with test data showing a direct correlation between key legislative change and an increase in the number of off spec fuels.

"The fluctuation in quality of available fuels tends to be witnessed immediately before, during, and immediately after a legislative change," he told delegates at last year's Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) annual conference.

Quality Improvements

However, following the latest change in legislation, which from January 1, 2015 limits the sulfur content of marine fuel used inside Emissions Control Areas (ECAs) to 0.10 percent by weight, that trend has been reversed.

"So far in the first quarter of this year the quality of fuel appears to have improved compared to the 2014 average," Bee told delegates at the this year's CMA Shipping 2015 annual conference.

"21 percent of fuels so far in the first quarter have exceeded the spec limit for one parameter or more, compared to 26 percent throughout 2014."

Speculating on the reasons behind the trend reversal, Bee told Ship & Bunker that previous legislation changes had generally lead to more complicated bunker fuel production processes, such as requiring increased levels of blending to lower the sulfur content of fuel oil bunkers from a 3.5 percent maximum to a 1.0 percent maximum.

Issues with such ECA fuels were one of the key drivers behind previous increases in off spec bunkers, as suppliers got to grips with new techniques.

However, the latest change in legislation has not only meant there is no longer a demand for the 1.0 percent sulfur ECA fuels, but blending down to create a 0.10 percent fuel oil product is not currently considered viable.

As such, the presence of heavily blended products is now significantly reduced in the market, which has reverted back to producing only the historically less problematic ISO 8217 specification fuels with traditional sulfur levels that the industry already has significant experience in making.

Hybrid Fuels

Bee did note that the latest rules have resulted in the emergence of new types of so-called "hybrid" fuels, also referred to as ultra low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) or heavy distillate products, but as these fuels are not currently covered or included in the ISO 8217 specification they cannot be tested as such, so they are not contributing to the latest picture of fuel quality.

Commenting on fuel quality throughout 2014 in general, Bee added:

"For residual fuels around 30% of all samples exceeded the spec limit for at least one parameter in 2014, and for the first three quarters of that year these levels were certainly higher than the 27% that we'd witnessed in 2013. However with the exception of quarter one in 2013, 2013 showed higher levels of fuels exceeding the spec limit for distillates across the year than were witnessed last year." he said.

"Average values have showed effectively that residual fuels increased form about 27% in 2013 to 31% in 2014, with respect to exceeding the spec limit for a single test parameter, whereas distillate fuels actually decreased slightly from about 11.5% in 2013 to 11.2% last year."

In February, International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Chairman, Jens Maul Jorgensen, also noted bunker fuel quality was improving, saying it was partly as a result of a campaign by the association.