Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) will introduce enhanced testing parameters for marine fuel delivered for bunkering at Singapore, to reduce the occurrence of bunkering contaminated fuels, it said in a circular notice this week.
The new parameters aim to improve quality assurance following a bunker contamination incident in February 2022 that affected around 200 ships.
The enhancements will be mandatory from June this year, MPA said, on top of maintaining existing quality assurance measures.
Under the enhancements, bunker suppliers must ensure that all residual and bio-residual marine fuel supplied in Singapore do not contain chlorinated organic compounds (COC) above 50 milligrams per kilogram, and must be free from inorganic acids.
Residual marine fuels should also be free from polymers including polystyrene, polyethylene and polymethacrylate, the MPA said.
For marine fuel that is blended using batches of different fuels or feedstock, the tests must be carried out after the blending and before the fuel is delivered as bunkers at the port of Singapore.
About 200 ships were supplied with high sulphur fuel oil containing high levels of COC at the port of Singapore in early 2022, which led to issues with fuel pumps and engines, with some ships facing power blackouts.