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Thursday, February 20, 2025
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Fuel Oil News

20 Feb 2025

Phillips 66 Leases Floating Storage Vessel in Singapore

(Credit: Maritec Pte Ltd)

The Singapore trading arm of U.S.-based refiner Phillips 66 has recently leased a new floating storage vessel along the Singapore and Malacca Straits for storing fuel oil, market sources told Reuters.The 300,000 metric-tons capacity Southern Emperor is the latest addition to 19 existing fuel oil floating storage vessels along the Straits chartered by various market participants, said sources.So far, Phillips 66 has been partially renting the EM Splendour for fuel oil storage.The Singapore and Malacca Straits are a key location for fuel oil storage in Asia, with traders building inventories of

18 Feb 2025

MAN Methanol Genset Obtains Type Approval

Source: MAN Energy Solutions

MAN Energy Solutions' MAN 7L21/31DF-M (dual fuel-methanol) genset has successfully passed its Type Approval Test in China.The test was carried out in close cooperation with CSSC Marine Power (CMP) – the MAN Energy Solutions licensee – at CMP’s production facility in Zhenjiang and received approval from all major classification societies present at the event.The basis for the new methanol engine concept is the MAN 21/31 Mk II type that is part-load optimized with a world-best specific fuel-oil consumption in the 1–2MW range.

18 Feb 2025

Goltens Signs Distribution Deal SEA-Mate

SEA-Mate® Blending-on-Board (BOB) system. Image courtesy SEA-Mate

Goltens Worldwide announced a new distribution agreement with Denmark's Marine Fluid Technology A/S (MFT) covering MFT’s SEA-Mate Blending-on-Board (BOB) system, SEA-Mate Filter system and other SEA-Mate products across key maritime markets in Singapore, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, and the Middle East including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar.SEA-Mate Blending-on-Board is touted as a revolutionary technology designed for ship owners to rethink their lubrication oil use by recycling and enhancing engine efficiency and reducing operating costs…

17 Feb 2025

MITSUI E&S Commences Full-Scale Ammonia Two-Stroke Testing

Source: Mitsui E&S

MITSUI E&S has announced the beginning of the test phase for the world’s first commercial, two-stroke, dual-fuel ammonia engine. The MAN B&W 7S60ME-LGIA (-Liquid Gas Injection Ammonia) Mk 10.5 prototype engine began its ammonia fuel test-run at MITSUI E&S’s Tamano Factory in Japan.The 60-bore engine will eventually be installed aboard a 200,000-dwt bulk carrier at Imabari Shipbuilding for a joint venture between “K” LINE, NS United and ITOCHU Corp. It also features MAN Energy…

12 Feb 2025

Marine Fuel Sales Soar After Red Sea Diversions

Copyright Kalyakan/AdobeStock

Global marine fuel sales jumped in 2024 after attacks by Yemen's Houthis starting in late 2023 prompted most shipping companies to divert vessels around southern Africa rather than through the Red Sea, according to data and analysts.Singapore bunker volumes logged fresh highs of 54.92 million metric tons in 2024, or about 955,000 barrels per day (bpd), while sales at United Arab Emirates' Fujairah posted the first annual uptick after a downtrend for several years.Rotterdam marine fuel sales rose 12% in the first quarter of 2024 to 2.16 million tons, or about 38,000 bpd from the previous three

11 Feb 2025

Singapore Leads Table-Top Oil Spill Response Exercise

Source: ITOPF

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has conducted a table-top exercise with Indonesia and Malaysia to enhance regional coordination and strengthen response capabilities for oil spills. The exercise brought together over 20 representatives from MPA, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Sea Transportation, Malaysia’s Environment Department, and oil spill response experts from ITOPF.As part of Singapore’s chairmanship of the Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) from April 2022 until March 2027, MPA led the exercise to foster collaboration.

09 Feb 2025

Ship Runs Aground off Sakhalin Island

© Olga / Adobe Stock

A district in Russia's Sakhalin region has been put on high alert after a Chinese cargo ship ran aground off the southwest coast of the Sakhalin Island, the governor of the region in Russia's Far East said early on Sunday.The Chinese bulk carrier An Yang 2 is reported to have 20 crew members and 700 tons of fuel oil onboard as well as 100 tons of diesel fuel and 1,000 tons of coal.No fuel spillage was recorded and there was no threat to the crew, but the situation required readiness for any scenario…

04 Feb 2025

WinGD Debuts On-Engine SCR

Source: WinGD

WinGD will be deploying its on-engine NOx reduction solution ed for the first time on commercial engines after securing type approval.The integrated Selective Catalytic Reduction (iSCR) solution was tested at Mitsui E&S DU (MESDU) Co’s factory in Aioi, Japan, where three WinGD 5X52-S2.0 engines are being built for bulk carriers under construction at a Japanese shipyard.The type approval follows more than two years of service experience with a prototype version. The latest iteration features reduced material and production costs…

03 Feb 2025

Sanmar Secures Landmark Tug Contract with New Bulgarian Client

Copyright_SANMAR

SANMAR signed a contract with PORT FLOT – BURGAS, one of Bulgaria’s leading towage companies, to build a multi-purpose tug to join its fleet, providing services in the Bay of Burgas.The new tugboat will be one of the Turkish tug-builder and operator’s BoÄźaçay Series and to be known as BOÄžAÇAY LXXXI while under construction. It will be based on the exclusive-to-SANMAR RAmparts 2400SX-MKII design from Canadian naval architect Robert Allan Ltd.PORT FLOT - BURGAS has more than 35 years of tradition in the maritime business at Burgas Port…

24 Jan 2025

Sulmara Assists Fuel Recovery Op from Typhoon-Struck Cargo Ship

Aerial view of recovery operation (Credit: Dong Fang Offshore)

Scottish subsea specialist Sulmara has supported a major fuel recovery operation from typhoon-struck cargo ship in shallow waters off Taiwan.At the request of the Taiwanese government, Sulmara mobilized a WAM-V 16 uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) and a team of survey specialists to assist in the emergency fuel recovery operation for the heavy transport vessel, Yu Zhou Qi Hang.The operation was launched to help salvage cargo from the heavy transport vessel which ran aground with almost 300 t of fuel oil on board during one of the worst typhoons to hit Taiwan in decades.The 143-meter-long vessel…

24 Jan 2025

MOL Picks Up Long-Term Charter for Three VLECs with Thai Firm

Rendering of VLEC vessel (Credit: Samsung Heavy Industries)

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a long-term charter contract for three newbuilding very large ethane carriers (VLECs) with SCG Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG).The 100,000 m3 VLECs, spanning 230 meters in lengths and with breadths of 36.6 meters, will be built at Samsung Heavy Industries, and are scheduled for delivery in 2027.The vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel ethane propulsion engines, which will reduce greenhouse gas, sulfur oxide…

20 Jan 2025

Chemical Bunkering Tanker Ordered

Fratelli Cosulich Group placed an order for another 7,999 dwt IMO2 chemical bunkering tanker at Taizhou Maple Leaf Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., which when delivered in Q4 '26 will bring the company's total number of methanol-ready barges to four.This newbuild vessel is designed to carry fuel oil, biofuels up to B100 and methanol. The delivery of this methanol-ready vessel is scheduled for Q4 2026.

20 Jan 2025

China's Low-Sulfur Marine Fuel Exports Down 1.6%

Copyright Mariusz/AdobeStock

2024 LSFO exports 18.33 mln tons, -1.6% vs 20232024 fuel oil imports +7.4% at record 24.1 mln tonsFuel oil imports to trend down in 2025 on new tariffs, tax policy    China's exports of low-sulfur marine fuels dipped 1.6% in 2024 from the previous year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. The decline in exports emerged despite an uptick in refuelling demand at key bunker ports globally, as China cut export quotas in its final batch of the year.Exports of the marine fuel…

16 Jan 2025

Fujairah 2024 Bunker Sales Higher Than Zhoushan

© natatravel / Adobe Stock

Sales of marine fuel at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah edged higher in 2024 after a downtrend in previous years, latest data showed.Volumes, excluding lubricants, totalled 7.6 million cubic metres (about 7.5 million metric tons) for 2024, up 1.9% from 2023, based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by industry information service provider S&P Global Commodity Insights this week.The port retained its position as the world's third-largest bunker hub as of 2024, with volumes hovering above China's Zhoushan volumes of 7.26 million tons.

06 Jan 2025

Ship Brokers: EU's clean fuel rules 'Inflationary'

European Union marine fuel rules, effective from Jan. 1 as part of efforts to cut emissions, will raise shipping costs, although firms with vessels that can run on alternative fuels, such as biodiesel and LNG, will benefit, two shipbrokers said.The policy is the second major EU regulation focused on cutting the shipping industry's carbon emissions in as many years. Shipping transports over 80% of all traded goods and causes nearly 3% of greenhouse gas emissions.The FuelEU Maritime regulation requires commercial ships above 5,000 gross tonnage operating in EU ports to cut emissions from marine fuels, also called bunker fuels, or pay penalties.Biofuels and other alternative fuels for ships are in short supply, and there is competition from aviation and other sectors.

05 Jan 2025

Russia Clearing Beaches After Black Sea Oil Spill

© jukuraesamurai / Adobe Stock

Russia declared a regional state of emergency on Saturday in Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, as workers cleared tons of contaminated sand and earth on either side of the Kerch Strait following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month.Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russia-installed governor of the city of Sevastopol, said new traces of minor pollution required urgent elimination and declared a state of emergency in the city - giving authorities more power to take swift decisions…

07 Jan 2025

Japanese and Singaporean Bulk Carriers Collide in China

Two bulk carriers collided in China's Yangtze river, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Tuesday, adding that no injuries to the crew were reported.Vega Dream, owned and operated by Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, collided with Yangze 22, the bulk carrier sailing under the Singaporean flag, on Dec. 30, although the vessels were in stable condition, the MPA said.Yangze 22, whose hull was damaged by the collision, was reported to have spilled about 9 metric tons of fuel oil. It is currently stationed at Hengsha East Anchorage for damage assessment, Singapore's port authority said.Officials from Mitsui O.S.K. Lines were not immediately available for comment.

23 Dec 2024

One-on-One: Sameer Kalra, President, Marine, Alfa Laval

Sameer Kalra, President, Marine, Alfa Laval

Tech leaders across maritime have the unenviable task of plotting for, at best, a fuzzy future. Make no mistake, the mission is clear: emission reduction leading to decarbonization. But the means to that end – and the realistic timeframe to get there – is less than clear. Sit with Sameer Kalra, President, Marine, Alfa Laval for awhile and it becomes abundantly clear he has a firm handle on the means to make money for Alfa Laval today while funding the technologies that will power the company’s future.Sameer Kalra…

20 Dec 2024

Volunteers Battle Black Sea Oil Spill

Volunteers struggled on Friday to shovel up tons of sticky oil from Russia's Black Sea coastline following what President Vladimir Putin has called an ecological disaster.The oil spilled from two ageing Russian oil tankers that were severely damaged by a weekend storm in the Kerch Strait that separates southern Russia from Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. One of the vessels split in half, and a crew member was killed, while the other ran aground.At the sea's edge, volunteers shoveled oil and blackened sand into white sacks to be taken away in trucks, as more viscous black tar drifted in on the waves."I've never seen anything like this. I can't even really imagine it.

19 Dec 2024

Op/Ed: It’s Human Nature to Have an Opinion – About LNG

© MSM / Adobe Stock

Back in August 2024, in its blog Fact from Fiction: Methane Slip, the industry group SEA-LNG stated: “It’s human nature to have an opinion. And everyone is entitled to one. What’s potentially damaging is when emotive opinions with limited substance are heralded as fact.”This week MSC Cruises had to reconsider what it was saying about LNG.NGO Opportunity Green reports that, following a complaint it made in March 2024, the UK Advertising Standards Authority has resolved an issue regarding claims MSC Cruises was making about LNG.

17 Dec 2024

Third Russian Tanker Issues Distress Signal as Oil Washes Up on Black Sea Coast

© Yellow Boat / Adobe Stock

Spilled oil has washed up along "tens of kilometres" of the Russian Black Sea coast after two tankers were badly damaged in a storm at the weekend, a regional official said on Tuesday, and state media said a third vessel was now in trouble.TASS news agency said the third ship, also a tanker, had issued a distress signal off the port of Kavkaz, but its hull was still intact, there was no oil spillage and the crew was safe.The first ship, the Volgoneft 212, split in half on Sunday in the Kerch Strait, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

16 Dec 2024

NW Europe Fuel oil Imports at 3-year High

A rush to replenish scarce supply of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) pushed Northwest European imports of residual fuel oil to their highest in three years in November, analysts told Reuters.The Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) area, Europe's main trading and refining hub, received around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of all types of fuel oil in November, the highest monthly volume since November 2021.That compared with an average of 332,000 bpd over January-October this year, according to trade analytics firm Kpler.Residual fuel oil is one of the key products refined from crude oil and is widely used in the maritime and construction industries.

15 Dec 2024

Singapore Bunker Sales Hit Two-Month low in November

© NPershaj / Adobe Stock

Sales of marine bunker fuel at Singapore retreated to a two-month low in November after soaring in October, data from Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed.Bunker sales at the world's biggest ship refueling hub totaled 4.46 million metric tons in November, down 8.5% month-on-month but higher by 4.6% from a year ago, the data showed.Total vessel calls for bunkering fell 4.5% from the prior month to 3,296 in November, while container throughput dipped 4.7% to 3.34…