Singapore authorities have stripped Southernpec (Singapore) of its bunker craft operating licence after it was caught trying to shortchange customers.
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) alleged that the company used magnets to “interfere with the mass flow meter (MFM)” on board a tanker during a bunkering operations.
The maritime regulator said that this malpractice “ constituted a breach of the terms and conditions of its bunker craft operator licence”.
Southernpec will no longer be allowed to operate as a bunker craft operator in the Port of Singapore with immediate effect, the MPA said.
The bunker supplier is also said to have “ failed to inform” the MPA of the appointment of cargo officers to work on its bunker craft.
Separately, the MPA said it was also investigating Southernpec for possible “breaches of the terms and conditions” of its bunker supplier licence.
Singapore takes a serious view of any contraventions of licence terms and conditions, and has suspended or revoked the relevant licences on several occasions.
Last month, the MPA had suspended Southernpec’s licence as it began the investigation.
In 2018, Southernpec was ranked as Singapore’s 30th-largest bunker supplier by volume out of a total of 51 other operators.
Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub, became the first port to mandate the use of MFMs in 2017 in an effort to boost transparency.
