Numerous inquiries for marine fuel supplies in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Fujairah oil hub are increasing as shippers are trying to avoid loading tainted fuel oil that has clogged and damaged ship engines in Singapore.
What happened?
In recent times, tainted marine fuel has been found in Singapore which is considered as the World’s largest refueling hub. Around 100 vessels reported that their vessel was loaded with contaminated fuel in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Panama and the Dutch Antilles.
Inquiries pouring in
A Dubai-based bunker fuel trader with a global bunker fuel supplier confirmed that since last week they were receiving about 7 to 8 inquiries (on average per day) but from Thursday to yesterday they have seen more than 17-18 (inquiries) per day.
The trader said, “In Singapore it’s a contamination issue that makes the fuel like sludge so it clogs all the purifiers and causes big damage to the filters of the engine”.
Warning issued
A Singapore-based marine fuel surveyor and consulting firm Maritec Pte Ltd last week warned clients that six samples of ship fuel sold in Singapore had resulted in severe sludging at centrifuges, clogged pipelines and overwhelmed fuel filters.
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Source: Reuters
