Global fuel testing and inspection company Veritas Petroleum Services has seen bunker fuel alerts rise sharply this year, with stability and cold-flow issues coming to the fore due to the increased use of very low sulfur fuel oils, VPS group commercial & business development director Steve Bee said in an interview with S&P Global Platts.
The implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s global low sulfur mandate on Jan. 1 accelerated the use of cleaner bunker fuels, with VLSFOs becoming the chief marine fuel choice to meet compliance.
“A lot of stability and cold-flow issues with VLSFOs, plus flash point issues with MGO and VLSFO, have been noted,” Bee said Oct. 3. ahead of the 21st Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition, or SIBCON.
VPS has issued 37 bunker alerts to date in 2020 compared with only 18 over the same period of 2019, Bee said. Of the total, 17 or 46% were issued for flash point issues — nine for MGO, five for VLSFO and three for HSFO, he said, adding VLSFOs account for 65% of all fuel samples tested by VPS.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has triggered a drastic drop in crude oil and oil product prices, has added to the complexity.
“We believe the reduced demand for road and aviation fuels due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a surplus of these more volatile fuels and as a consequence they have been used as blend components within marine fuels, resulting in lowering the flash points of MGO, VLSFO and HSFOs,” Bee said…
