A PRELIMINARY investigation has found around 200 ships have been supplied with contaminated bunker fuel at the Port of Singapore, many of which have reported engine problems.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore was notified on 14 March this year that the ships had received a high sulphur fuel oil containing high concentration levels of chlorinated organic compounds, known as COC.
MPA said it immediately contacted the relevant bunker suppliers to halt the delivery of contaminated fuel and advised the ships which had already received the fuel to exercise caution.
Of the 200 vessels which took on the blended product, around 80 have reported various issues impacting their fuel pumps and engines.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the MPA revealed the affected fuel was supplied by Glencore Singapore, a commodity trading and mining company.
Glencore reportedly ran tests on the fuel supplied by its sources on receiving reports of contamination, though by the time it identified the issue, a quantity of the fuel had already been sold to energy company PetroChina International, which had supplied the ships in Singapore.
“MPA has conducted fuel sample tests for some of the affected ships and found elevated levels of COC in their fuel samples,” MPA said in a statement.
“This is the first case of fuel contamination due to high concentration levels of COC reported in Singapore in the past two decades.”
The port authority said bunker fuel supplied in the Port of Singapore must meet the international standards of petroleum products in fuel, outlined by the International Organization for Standardization.
It said the contaminated fuel purchased by Glencore was found to have complied with the relevant ISO standard and had also been tested under the American Society for Testing and Materials.
However, according to MPA, the relevant ISO and ASTM standards do not test for COC.
“MPA is currently in discussions with the industry on implementing additional fuel quality checks that would screen for unacceptable chemicals,” the port authority said.
“MPA also intends to submit a paper on the fuel contamination with COC to the International Maritime Organization for the members’ awareness.
“As a major bunkering hub, MPA takes bunker quality assurance seriously and will not hesitate to take necessary actions against relevant parties if they have failed to comply with MPA’s bunker licence conditions or other applicable regulations.”
