INTERTANKO demands action on contaminated bunkers

Written by Nick Blenkey
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Sludge particles

AUGUST 14, 2018 — INTERTANKO has released a Critical Review that shines a spotlight both on the extent of the problems being caused by contaminated marine fuels over the last five months and on the lack of any response by authorities.

Since late May 2018, says the tanker owners’ association, there have been an increased number of reports on serious technical problems and mechanical damages encountered by more than one hundred ships due to contaminated fuel oils. The contaminated fuels were initially supplied in the Houston area. Following this, the same contaminated fuels were supplied in some Caribbean ports such as Panama and then (so far) “exported” and supplied to Singapore and Malaysia.

The Critical Review questions whether authorities are concerned that ships have been exposed to serious safety risks and, as such, what shipping should expect from authorities if new blends released on the market prior to and after January 2020, when the IMO sulfur cap kicks in, might be incompatible with the systems on board a ship.

According to the Critical Review, ships received contaminated fuels in ports in the Houston area as early as January 2018. Since then such deliveries continued at ports around that area. Reports indicated that the first deliveries of contaminated fuels at some Caribbean ports were in April 2018 followed by first deliveries in Malaysia and Singapore in the same month.

All ships which had experienced mechanical failures due to these contaminated fuels had fuel samples taken during delivery and then tested at reputable laboratories. Routine laboratory analysis of fuel samples showed compliance with ISO-F-RMG 380 grade.

“From the reports we received” says the Critical Review, “only a few fuel samples indicated a higher Total Acid Number (TAN) value but not at a level to indicate the use of fuels that may cause mechanical failures. To our knowledge the test result in one fuel sample had a TAN value which indicated imminent risks. The ship did not use that fuel and de-bunkered it. Concluding, standard fuel oil test methods have failed to detect contaminants.”

Following good results on the fuel sample test, ships started to use these fuels on sea passages. The first warning sign for those ships was blockage of fuel filters. Initially, the crew not being aware that the fuel was contaminated, tried to find the cause of the problems but, despite their efforts, they experienced more and more problems. A summary of further damage encountered includes:

  • blocking and excessive wear of fuel separators;
  • blocking and damages to fuel filters;
  • sticking and excessive wear of fuel injection pumps and fuel injectors;
  • damage to engine piston rings and excessive wear of the pistons and cylinder liners

It was only after further damages occurred that crew and ship operators began to suspect that the cause of the problem might be that the fuel could contain contaminants of a non-petroleum refining origin.

The Critical Review cites one INTERTANKO member as rcommenting that, when the crew checked the installation they found “small plastic stones/rocks that of course very easily block filters and pumps and result in engine failure/stoppage.”

Consequently, ship operators with ships that have experienced such issues requested advanced analytical test techniques like Gas Chromatography combined with Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) to determine reliable source of the problem. The Critical Review goes into detail on what those tests revealed and says that they “may indicate that in these cases multiple waste products from multiple sources seem to have been combined into bunker fuel as cutter stock.”

It is important and relevant to recall that similar damage to propulsion machinery were identified in 2007 and 2013 where cutter stock was determined as the possible source of contamination on fuels delivered in the same U.S/ ports.

Industry demands government/authority action

INTERTANKO says that, while ship operators should continue to practice due diligence to sample and test fuels before ships use them, fuel producers and fuel suppliers have the responsibility to make sure fuels delivered to ships are safe.

To date, says INTERTANKO, only the USCG has issued a Safety Alert (see earlier story). Issued in June, the alert “raises awareness of a significant emerging problem in the US Gulf Coast region regarding contaminated vessel fuel oil bunkers” and states that “standard fuel oil test methods . . . will not detect these underlying problems”. The Safety Alert includes a recommendation to vessel owners and operators by one fuel testing organization. The USCG then “recommends that vessel owners and managers ensure vessel operators are made aware of this potential hazardous condition, closely monitor fuel oil systems and consult their bunker suppliers and other technical service providers regarding this issue.”

INTERTANKO is “very concerned that since June there has been no official information regarding an intent to initiate an investigation” and that “this lack of investigation into such a serious breach of safety norms, is totally inadequate and hugely disappointing. It seems that authorities are failing to appreciate or understand the high risks that these events are exposing ships (and their crew) to and the potentially environmental consequences that could arise as a result of ships left without power.”

Read the Critical Review HERE

 

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