The Singapore Maritime Port Authority (MPA) continues to underline what Insatech Marine has done for years. We are very optimistic about being on the right track - a track that is slowly adopted by the international maritime societies, most recently by implementing mandatory training in use of Mass Flow Meters as a bunker transfer tool in Singapore. 

This is interesting because for several years, Insatech Marine has offered training and completed training courses within bunker transfer tools. We have consistently encouraged our customers and partners to include training of essential staff in proper use of the bunker equipment, mainly because the best equipment can only be as good as the people using it. Simply out if the crew lack knowledge to interpret data from and otherwise decent system, it will tend to weight down negatively on the entire system.

Crew Training Cannot be Stressed Enough

Only last week it was highlighted that a bunker delivery firm had discovered  faulty deliveries in 12 out of 22 cases after getting transparent readings due to the installation of mass flow meters (Read more here). And while the fault where unintentional and human in scope – it stresses the need for the crew who handles these transfers. It may not be as easy as upgrading your maritime equipment to be able to operate more efficiently. If such systems introduced and resources are invested in “upgrading” the crew handling or interpreting the new system, you are simply not getting the most out of your initial investment. And it is entirely up to employers to make sure their crew gets the needed training, until now, where MPA has made it mandatory in relation to the handling of bunker transfer tools.  

MPA is the first authority to demand a degree of standards, and we sincerely hope the international society moves along. So that bunker buyers can be sure that they are receiving the amount of bunker they pay for. Also we see the initiative as a way to heighten the trustworthiness of bunker suppliers, because the degree of costly faults and actual cheating appears rather common in the bunker segment.  

Read the article in shipandbunker.