About Bunker Refueling Survey and Fuel Testing

Most vessel owners/operators realise the importance of having a good Bunker Quality and Quantity Control Program, but many have yet to improve their practice or implement one that works effectively. Although owners/operators of vessels worldwide  have “On-board Fuel Oil Quality Control” programs. However, an "on-board" program is not good enough because these programs cannot assure that the ship has sailed with a quality bunker fuel. By the time any inadequacies are found the bunker fuel is already in the ship’s F.O. tanks and the ship is in the ocean. They can entail many serious problems ranging from risking the safety of the ship to failure in meeting operational time schedules. To make the matters worse, a debunkering process can be costly and time consuming. Therefore, in most cases the complete result of tests are carry out by a Bunker Surveyor and submitted in time for the vessel owner/operator to determine whether to accept or decline the batch of bunker fuel tested.

As all these tasks are time critical to a Bunker Surveyor, using our customized program running on CASIO FX9860G Graphing calculator, all the following tasks will be achieved at a much shorter time with higher accuracy :-

• Complete and thorough inspection on all bunker tanker's tanks inclusive of all non-cargo spaces and line system.

• Repeated soundings taken to prevent illegal transfer of oil between tanks during measurement.

• Measurement of sounding pipe's reference height to prevent false readings.

• Proper calculation of bunker quantities based on prevailing ASTM - IP Petroleum Measurement Tables.

• Measurement of oil temperature for volumetric correction.

• Correction of vessels trims for volumetric correction.

• Checking presence of water before bunker delivery.

• Inspection of the validity of the calibration tables used. If necessary, in case of dispute, re-calculation can be done based on calibration tables of bunker tankers submitted to the Maritime& Port Authority of Singapore

• Continuous surveillance during and throughout the pumping operation.

• Collection of representative samples which are properly labeled, sealed and distributed with acknowledgement by all parties.

• Ensuring proper reports, documentation of all measurement, calculation method, sampling method and distribution are submitted in good order.

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