The contaminated bunker fuel supplied to over 200 ships in Singapore has been traced to fuel loaded onto a tanker in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore authorities have said.
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said it identified the source of the contamination after conducting an investigation into the fuel purchased by Glencore and PetroChina.
Glencore had purchased the tainted fuel through Straits Pinnacle Pte, which had contracted its supply from Unicious Energy Pte, the MPA said.
The contaminated HSFO was loaded at the Port of Khor Fakkan, UAE onto a tanker and shipped to floating storage facilities in Tanjong Pelepas, Malaysia to be further blended, the MPA said.
It was subsequently delivered to storage facilities in Singapore and part of the blended HSFO was also sold by Glencore to PetroChina International (Singapore).
To ascertain the source of contamination, MPA said it tested fuel samples taken from various sources, including the tanker which delivered the HSFO from the Port of Khor Fakkan, fuel blending facilities, and storage facilities of Glencore and PetroChina.
Fuel on board the tanker was found to contain high concentrations of Chlorinated Organic Compounds (COC), of up to 21,000 ppm.
“Forensic fingerprinting analysis of the fuel samples taken from the tanker showed a match with the samples taken from several affected ships that had taken HSFO from Glencore and PetroChina,” the MPA said.
“The forensic fingerprinting analysis established with reasonable certainty that contaminated fuel on-board affected ships had likely come from the same source of fuel on-board the tanker that was loaded at Port of Khor Fakkan, UAE.”
Glencore and PetroChina had both tested the fuel but did not detect the contamination promptly as current standards do not require testing for COC, the MPA said.
Of the 200 ships originally supplied with the contaminated bunkers, about 80 have reported various issues with their fuel pumps and engines.
The MPA said PetroChina and Glencore have taken the “necessary steps” to stop supplying the affected fuel and that it has not received any report of fuel containing high COC supplied by the two suppliers since 31 March 2022.
The MPA said it and the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) are currently in discussions with the industry on measures to strengthen the quality assurance of bunkers supplied in Singapore.
MPA and SSA will co-chair an industry expert group, which will include relevant professional bodies, to establish a list of chemicals to be tested and their corresponding concentration limits.
“The expert group is expected to make its recommendations on additional measures to strengthen bunker quality assurance of bunkers delivered in Singapore, on an urgent basis,” the MPA said.
