World News
Flow Meter System Saves Shipping Company $32,000
Insatech A/S (Insatech)'s bunker control technology in June saved a ship nearly $32,000 by alerting the crew when it received less fuel than it paid for, the company said in an emailed press release.
A vessel using an Insatech Bunker Control System with a Yokogawa Coriolis mass flow meter identified it was delivered 53.3 metric tonnes (mt) short during bunkering.
During the bunkering operation, the barge switched tank and left the valve from the empty tank slightly open, leading to a discrepancy in which the vessel sounding measured 818 mt, and the barge measurement showed 820 mt, but the mass flow meter found only 767 mt.
Because the Insatech system detects mass rather than volume, it was able to pick up on the shortfall, which resulted in a cost difference of $31,980.
Insatech said it chose not to name the port or the bunker supplier involved in the incident.
"Cheating of fuel quantity during bunker operations is a considerable problem and may result in many vessels being invoiced for more fuel than they have actually received," the company said.
"Since fuel costs constitute between 50 and 70 percent of a ship's total operational costs, small differences become large extra costs."
Bunker suppliers can use a number of techniques to overcharge ships for fuel received, including using only flow meter numbers to determine quantity, which are detailed in Ship & Bunker's Tricks of the Bunker Trade series prepared by Kaivan H. Chinoy of The Bunker Detectives.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 502.00 | 4.50 | 617.00 | 5.50 |
| Rotterdam | 457.50 | 2.50 | 623.50 | 6.50 |
| Houston | 469.00 | 3.50 | 623.00 | 2.00 |
| Fujairah | 494.50 | 6.50 | 715.50 | 5.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 526.00 | 3.00 | 712.50 | 11.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 481.00 | 4.00 | 645.00 | 4.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 569.00 | 2.00 | 750.00 | 5.50 |
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