Asian Panel 3 December 2010 Hong Kong Quality of bunkers delivered to ships Peter M. Swift

Bunker Quality Issues ISO 8217:2101 is a commercial standard and as such there is no mandatory enforcement mechanism. There is no official testing of the bunkers except for the tests ordered by ship owners.

Bunker Quality Issues The IMO should: ensure bunkers meet the contractual requirements, prior to being supplied on board; ensure bunker suppliers take corrective actions when off-spec bunkers are delivered to ships; clarify the responsibilities for ensuring bunkers delivered to ships meet the relevant criteria set by ISO 8217:2010 and MARPOL Annex VI.

Bunker Quality Issues Stricter enforcement: Port Authorities should make the registration of local recognised bunker suppliers available to the IMO and the IMO should publish these on its web site. Port Authorities should report the results of investigations and eventual follow-up actions in response to any Note of non- compliant fuel delivered in their jurisdiction. Port Authorities should forbid fuel blending during delivery to the ship Singapore MPA Code of Practice for Bunkering (SS600:2008) and Quality Management for Bunker Supply Chain (SS524:2006) are excellent examples

Bunker Quality Issues Improvement suggestions: Include in the BDN the ISO 8217:2010 criteria jointly recognised by the IMO and ISO as pertaining to safety of the ship, seafarers' health and air emissions. Port Authorities should set up a control system for checking compliance of bunkers prior to delivery to ships. If possible suggest that the residual fuels should be treated onshore (i.e. purification) prior to delivery to ships.

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ISO 8217:2010 Sulphur limits related to MARPOL Annex VI Values for ash reduced Value for Al + Si reduced New informative Annexes on: – bio-derived products – deleterious materials – hydrogen sulphide Positive development but... ISO 8217 is not referred to in MARPOL Could some criteria be used in the BDN?

REPORTED PROBLEMS WITH MARINE FUEL OILS HIGH ABRASIVE FUELS HIGH ASH LOW FLASH POINT HIGH SEDIMENTS HIGH DENSITY FUELS CONTAINING USED LUBE OILS POLYETHYLENE CONTAMINATION POLYSTYRENE CONTAMINATION HIGH CALCIUM & HIGH SODIUM HIGH WATER CONTENT CONTAMINATED FUELS INCOMPATIBILITY OF BLENDS FATTY ACIDE METHYL ESTER (FAME)

IMO/ISO AGREED “APPROPRITAE PARAMETERS” “Appropriate parameters considered by ISO to be pertinent to fuel oil quality with respect to air quality, ship safety, crew health and engine performance” Density at 15ºC Kinematic Viscosity Vanadium Al + Si Cetane Index Ignition Quality (CCAI) Fuel Stability Flash Point - minimum value required under SOLAS II-2, regulation

IMO/ISO AGREED “APPROPRITAE PARAMETERS” (cont) “Appropriate parameters considered by ISO to be pertinent to fuel oil quality with respect to air quality, ship safety, crew health and engine performance” Pour Point Water Sodium Acid Number Lubricity HFRR Micro Carbon Residue Ash Sulphur - maximum value required under MARPOL, Annex VI, regulation 14 Appearance (for transparent fuels) Used lubricating oil (ULO) - free of such elements as required by MARPOL Annex VI, regulation 18 –Zinc –Phosphorus –Calcium Hydrogen Sulphide - value required to be given by SOLAS/MSDS