Singapore MPA steps in to curb bunker fuel quality issues
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has taken steps to ensure the fuel contamination issue, which has so far impacted dozens of ships that bunkered at the city-state, does not escalate further as it continues its probe.
MPA has contacted the relevant bunker suppliers to take necessary steps to stop supplying the particular batch of fuel and also informed all ships that were supplied with the fuel to exercise caution, the regulator told S&P Global Commodity Insights on April 7.
MPA had launched an investigation to determine the cause of the latest off-specification bunker fuel issue after several cases of chlorinated hydrocarbons were detected in marine fuel deliveries, mostly for high sulfur fuel oil, in the world’s largest bunkering port.
Valuations surge
The global fuel oil market has been in turmoil with limited product availability, largely attributable to less-than-usual Russian oil flowing into the marine fuel oil pool. Amid this, the Asian HSFO market has been caught in the eye of a storm as tight availability is further compounded by fuel quality issues in Singapore.
The premium for Singapore-delivered 380 CST bunker over the Mean of Platts Singapore 380 CST HSFO assessment has progressively ticked higher in the recent days to hit a near two-year high of $35.97/mt on April 7. The differential was last higher at $39.78/mt on April 23, 2020, S&P Global data showed.
Quality concerns
Global fuel testing and inspection companies Veritas Petroleum Services and Maritec were among those to highlight their recent findings related to HSFO bunker fuel quality issues in Singapore.
