In Singapore all bunker tankers are required to use mass flow meters from year 2017. This is hardly news.
Currently 43 bunker tankers has mass flow meters installed, so while the adaptation rate from the bunkering industry is high as well as the acceptance rate, for ship-owners it is not so.
“The only issue now we are confronted with is convincing ship-owners that MFMs are the way to go. It is not easy as it is new technology for the bunkering industry”.
Dr Parry Oei, Director of the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore
Though it is a challenge that needs to be addressed the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore have done what they could to increase the ship-owners trust. The mass flow meters have been rigorously tested to ensure the flow meters will supply automatic and tamper-free measurements. The authorities have overseen more than 700 bunker deliveries in the trial phase of the bunker program, in which meters has been installed on 17 bunker tankers. Read more about the test.
The skepticism of the ship-owners may be disputed to be justly founded. Cases of bunker fraud regularly surfaces in the news, hence their lack of trust can be understood. On the economic side investing in a Coriolis mass flow meter with a capacity of 1000 metric tonnes/hour is an investment of about SGD $150.000 according to industry source. Such fraud is what the Maritime Port Authorities of Singapore are trying to alleviate.
“we are confident that the industry will enjoy the lower measurement uncertainty for bunker deliveries with the use of mass flow meters. There may be some disputes but we have a 24/7 helpline where we will be more than happy to ensure any unresolved issues with regards to mass flow meters and bunker deliveries in general.”
Dr Parry Oei, Director of the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore
At Insatech Marine we consider Coriolis mass flow meters to be the best and most reliable choice when it comes to measuring bunker. If you are interested you can read more about how the Coriolis mass flow meter works here.
However we have taken the step further to also automat the bunker process with alarms if air or density is changed during the bunker operation. Read more about our Bunker Management System.