Contaminated fuel sold to 200 ships in Singapore

15 April 2022

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has revealed a major fuel contamination episode, where some 200 ships were supplied with contaminated bunker fuel in the Port of Singapore last month.

The ships had been supplied with High Sulfur Fuel Oil (HSFO) containing high concentration of chlorinated organic compounds (COC), including 1,2-dichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene. The affected fuel was supplied by Glencore Singapore Pte Ltd. Upon receiving reports of the contamination, Glencore proceeded to test the fuels supplied by its sources used in its blended product, and discovered that one of them had contained about 15,000 ppm of COC.

By the time of testing, however, Glencore had already sold part of the affected fuel to PetroChina International (Singapore), which in turn had supplied to ships in the Port of Singapore. To date, Glencore and PetroChina have supplied the affected fuel to about 200 ships. Of these, about 80 ships have reported various issues with their fuel pumps and engines.

The contaminated fuel purchased by Glencore was in compliance with ISO 8217 and ASTM D7845. However, ISO 8217 and ASTM D7845 do not include tests for COC.

The MPA said it is currently in discussions with the industry on implementing additional fuel quality checks that would screen for unacceptable chemicals. This is the first case of fuel contamination due to high concentration levels of COC reported in Singapore in the past two decades.

Source: MPA Singapore