UK Club has reported that bunker fuel analysis was indicating more cases of contaminated bunker fuel in the Rotterdam and Amsterdam (ARA) areas, suggesting that the problem was persisting.
Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) issued a bunker alert in early July regarding the same issue. It reported that the company had investigated samples of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) taken in the ARA region following reports that vessels using these fuels were experiencing operational problems. These problems included excessive wear of fuel pump plungers, barrels and injectors. One vessel lost propulsion and had to be towed, and the failure started with engines unable to take the load due to damage within the fuel
system.
Using GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) analysis methodology, numerous volatile organic compounds were detected within these fuel samples.
The organic compounds that were detected in these fuel samples were Phenols, Styrenes, Alcohols and Ketonic compounds, ranging up to 40,000 ppm (4%) in total. The Club noted that this range of combinations did not originate from normal refinery processes and indicated contamination. Phenol-like compounds were often associated with fuel pump wear and damage.
The types of problem reported by the vessels were similar to those found with the recent Singapore chlorinated hydrocarbon issues, but the contaminants were different this time.
Recent analyses by VPS, using samples from the same region, showed that the fuels had high total acid numbers (TAN), and all contained abnormally high potassium levels. Elevated Potassium can lead to increased combustion deposits.
Due to the severity of the problems faced, UK Club said that it would be prudent to pre-test the fuels bunkered using accredited testing methods as a precautionary measure to detect these contaminants and assess the risk that each bunker stem poses to machinery.
“During an actual claim scenario, the ability to properly pursue or defend bunker quality claims depends on the quality of the evidence. Good record-keeping is essential to the entire process, and the importance of proper bunker sampling cannot be overstated”, the Club concluded.
