Luke Pachymuthu, The Strait Times

SINGAPORE
EnergiesNet.com -8 03 2022

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will be suspending Glencore’s bunkering licence for two months after the global commodity trading giant had knowingly supplied contaminated fuel to ships at the Singapore port.

The suspension, which takes effect from Aug 18, comes after Glencore’s subsidiary in Singapore supplied tainted fuel to 24 ships in late March and early April this year. At least three of these vessels have reported issues with their fuel pumps and engines, said the MPA on Wednesday (Aug 3). 

Investigations by the port authority showed that Glencore Singapore had sold the tainted oil even after the fuel testing laboratory that was contracted by it had reported that the samples contained high levels of chlorinated organic compounds (COC), a component not commonly found in marine fuels. 

Bunker fuel contaminations have the potential to damage a ship’s engine and lead to costly repairs. Ships losing power at sea can be extremely dangerous, increasing the risk of collision or running aground.

The testing of the fuel samples was done between March 21 and March 23, said MPA.

Despite this, Glencore continued to supply bunkers blended with the fuel purchased that was contaminated with high levels of COC to vessels in the Port of Singapore from March 22 to April 1 this year, noted the MPA. 

It added: “Glencore contravened the terms and conditions of its bunkering licence in failing to ensure that no bunkers supplied by it were contaminated. Glencore was given the opportunity to comment on these findings before MPA finalised its conclusions.”

The MPA said it has asked Glencore to improve its internal procedures “to ensure that prompt action is taken in future when it becomes aware of, or reasonably suspects, any irregularity in fuel quality”.

Glencore declined to comment when contacted by The Straits Times. 

Meanwhile, the MPA will not be suspending the bunkering licence of PetroChina, as it had stopped supplying the contaminated oil by March 19, as soon as it had received the laboratory results showing extremely high levels of organic chlorides.

The issue first surfaced when about 200 ships which called at Singapore earlier this year were found to have received contaminated fuel supplied by Glencore and PetroChina International Singapore. Some 80 of these ships had reported issues with their fuel pumps and engines, the MPA had said in April.

Further investigations showed that the contaminated fuel originated from a tanker that loaded the oil from Khor Fakkan a port in the United Arab Emirates sometime in January and February.

The Hong Kong-listed Glencore had bought the oil from Straits Pinnacle, a unit of the Straits Financial Group, which is owned by Hong Kong logistics group CWT International.

Straits Pinnacle had, in turn, obtained the oil from Singapore firm Unicious Energy.

The MPA also noted that it had found no evidence that Glencore or PetroChina had intentionally contaminated the high sulphur fuel oil.

Mr Simon Neo, executive director of Singapore-based marine fuel consultancy SDE International, said the suspension did not come as a surprise especially considering the contamination issue had affected Singapore’s reputation as a major ship refuelling hub.

“To be a top bunker port or bunkering hub, Singapore must maintain trust in the industry and this covers quantity and quality delivery to vessels,” said Mr Neo.

“Glencore contravened the port authority’s licensing agreement that helps to ensure this trust is maintained by supplying quality fuel to ships coming to Singapore to refuel, and this was a consideration for the MPA in deciding on the suspension of the licence.”

staitstimes.com 08 03 2022