World Fuel Services Director Accepts Key CIMAC Appointment
World Fuel Services has announced that John Stirling, the company’s Director, Marine Technical, has accepted a key position at CIMAC, the International Council on Power, Drives and Propulsion. He will take over the vacant position of Secretary of CIMAC’s WG7 working group.The association has recently refocused from providing a technical forum for conventional diesel engine expertise, to include all new types of energy, and is now a fully pledged alternative energy association…
Low Flashpoint Bunkers Identified in Indonesia
Singapore-based CTI-Maritec has found that seven samples from four different suppliers representing HSD and Bio Distillate grade deliveries in Indonesia have a flashpoint as low as 35°C.The samples were taken between December 10 and 19 2023.The company reminds that SOLAS Chapter II-2, Part B, Reg. 4. Clause 2.1.1 states: “The following limitations shall apply to the use of oil as fuel, except as otherwise permitted by this paragraph, no oil fuel with a flashpoint of less than…
Singapore’s First Hybrid Electric Bunker Vessel Delivered
Singapore’s first hybrid bunker tanker, Marine Charge, has been delivered to V-Bunkers, Vitol’s Singaporean bunker operations company.The 7990-ton vessel, designed by SeaTech Solutions and built by Zhejiang Shenzhou Sunshine Heavy Industry is fitted with 480Kwh of Shift’s energy storage system (ESS).Shift Clean Energy’s ESS will be primarily used for peak shaving (storing energy during low power consumption for use during peak usage periods, allowing main generators to operate with a more stable load).
V-Bunkers Orders Pair of Electric-Hybrid Bunker Tankers
Vitol’s Singaporean bunker operations company, V-Bunkers, placed an order to build two electric-hybrid bunker tankers, with the intention to deploy them for harbor ops in Singapore.The bunker tankers are being built at an undisclosed shipyard in China with Electric-Hybrid notation and will employ Energy Storage Systems (ESS) technology comprising Lithium ion batteries for energy storage and anautomated Power Management System (PMS) designed to efficiently manage power consumption to reduce GHG emissions.
LNG Bunkering Simulator for Hands-on Training
The technology group Wärtsilä will supply an LNG bunkering vessel simulator to Kasi Group (Malaysia), a leading provider of integrated marine solutions. The simulator will be used to provide hands-on training to those who will be operating LNG bunkering services. Wärtsilä is the first company capable of offering such a simulator. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in July.The demand for training services for LNG bunkering vessel simulators has been rising since 2017, when only one single LNG bunkering vessel was in service.
Russia's Rosneft Tenders marine bunkers in euros
Top Russian oil producer Rosneft has put up marine fuel cargos for sale with the euro as the default currency, a tender document showed on Monday, in line with its plan to sell oil products in the single currency instead of the U.S. dollar.Rosneft said it had tendered to sell up to 70,000 tonnes of low-viscosity marine fuel with sulphur content of up to 1% from its oil refineries with delivery between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31 on a freight-on-board (FOB) Black Sea basis or FOB St Petersburg…
Iranian Ship Departs Brazil, Second Bulker to Follow
An Iranian ship called Bavand, which had been at the heart of a geopolitical spat between Brasilia and Tehran, set sail from Brazil on Monday after receiving fuel from state-run Petroleo Brasileiro , the port of Paranaguá said.Meanwhile, a second Iranian ship, the Termeh, which set sail from Paranaguá port two days ago, was on Monday heading to the southern Brazilian port of Imbituba, where it is due to pick up a shipment of corn before heading back to Iran.The ships were stranded after Brazil's state oil company, known as Petrobras, refused to sell them bunker fuel in the wake of U.S.
Iran Grain Ships Stranded in Brazil due to U.S. Sanctions
Two Iranian vessels have been stranded for weeks at Brazilian ports, unable to head back to Iran due to lack of fuel, which state-run oil firm Petrobras refuses to sell them due to sanctions imposed by the United States.The vessels Bavand and Termeh came to Brazil a couple months ago carrying urea, a petrochemical product used as fertilizer. They were expected to load corn and return to Iran, but lacked enough fuel for the trip, the port operator in Paranaguá told Reuters.Food is not covered by U.S. sanctions, and Iran is one of the largest buyers of Brazil's agricultural commodities, importing more than 2.5 million tonnes of Brazilian corn so far this year — more than any other country.However, that trade is not usually carried by ships flying the Iranian flag.
War Risk Costs Impact UAE Bunkers, Singapore benefits
Shippers trying to minimise time in the Middle East after oil tanker attacks pushed up insurance costs are scaling back purchases of marine fuels from the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Fujairah oil hub, trade sources said.Instead, they are turning primarily to Singapore, the world's top refuelling hub, to buy marine fuels, also known as bunkers, with some diverting to smaller bunkering ports, including in India and Sri Lanka, the sources said.A tonne of 380-centistoke (cst) high…
Containerships in first SIMOPS boxship bunkering
Containerships performed its first simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) bunkering, which allows for the concomitant bunkering of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and execution of loading and unloading procedures.An unprecedented achievement improving Containerships’ operational efficiency and highlighting the Group’s leading role in the energy transition of the shipping industryOn July 4th, 2019, Containerships successfully carried out SIMOPS bunkering on its LNG-powered CONTAINERSHIPS NORD vessel in the Port of Rotterdam.
Bunker Fuel Mkt to Reach $273bln by 2025
The global bunker fuel market, which was valued at $137.21 billion in 2017, is expected to reach $273.05 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 9.4% during the forecast period, 2018-2025.Increased offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities in offshore destinations and growth in marine trade due to rise in import-export activities contribute to the overall growth of the global bunker fuel market, said a report published by Allied Market Research.However, stringent government regulations regarding the use of bunker fuel such as residual fuel oil (RFO) containing pollutants such as sulfur and nitrogen that are capable enough to disturb the marine life cycle restrain the market growth.Conversely…
Nauticor Supplies LNG via STS
On April 15th, 2019, a large bunker supply vessel (BSV) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) “Kairos” provided LNG in a ship-to-ship bunker operation to a product tanker. “Fure Valö”, a vessel of the tanker pool managed by the Gothia Tanker Alliance, received LNG at the anchorage area of Sandhamn, near the Swedish capital of Stockholm. The bunker operation was the first offshore ship-to-ship operation that was conducted by the 117 meter long BSV.The bunker operation was conducted under an agreement for the supply of LNG…
IMO 2020 Impact on Fuel Bunker
When new International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) bunker fuel regulations come into effect on January 1, 2020, there remains uncertainty regarding the availability and pricing for all marine fuel, as owners grapple with technical solutions for compliance.The sulfur content limits in bunker fuels used outside the designated Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will be reduced to 0.5% (from 3.5%) to reduce air emissions from shipping.High sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) currently represents nearly 80% (approx. 3.84 million bpd) of the 5.0 million bpd global bunker demand, which will become non-compliant.Essentially, ship owners have three options: 1) Switch to compliant fuels…
Companies Sue Valero for Bad Marine Fuel
Two companies filled lawsuits this week in federal courts in Texas alleging that ships they operated in 2018 were damaged by contaminated bunker fuel sold by a Valero Energy Co subsidiary Valero Marketing and Supply Co, according to court documents.A Valero spokeswoman did not reply to a request for comment.The National Shipping Co of Saudi Arabia said it paid out more than $1.1 million for repairs and replacement fuel for a ship that drifted at sea for two days before restarting and arriving at Alexandria…