Verifuel Sees VLSFO Off-Spec Rate Decline at End of 2021

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday January 28, 2022

The share of VLSFO samples found to be off-specification declined significantly at the end of 2021, according to Bureau Veritas bunker monitoring unit Verifuel.

Just 1.3% of the VLSFO samples analysed by Verifuel in the fourth quarter of 2021 were found to be off-specification, a company representative told Ship & Bunker on Friday. The figure was down from 1.9% in the third quarter and 2.4% in the second.

The highest share of these Q4 off-specification samples came because of their water content, followed by sediment and then sulfur content. 

The company noted the highest share of off-specification samples in Houston, where the rate rose to 5.9% in the fourth quarter from 3.1% in the third. Istanbul's off-specification share was also above average in the fourth quarter at 2.9%, but had fallen from 5.3% in the previous three months.

The global average viscosity of all samples the company analysed was little changed from the third quarter at 143 cSt, while density rose marginally to 945 kg/m3 from 943.3 kg/m3 the previous quarter.