ISO rule does not protect against bunker impurities

Clause five in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 8217 specifications guidelines is not sufficient to protect either the buyer or the supplier in cases of marine fuel contamination, a major supplier said.

ISO 8217 clause five states among other things that the marine fuel: "Shall be free from any material that renders the fuel unacceptable for use in marine applications". The clause does not directly state "phenol" or other contaminants, but could be applied to these.

In light of an ongoing international bunker contamination problem, Anthony Odak, COO of John Stone Oil, told Argus that "the fact that there is not a consistent request from shipowners and charterers for quality test above and beyond the bare minimum of ISO 8217 speaks volumes of the regulatory bodies." Additional tests such as Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) need to be run. But these are costly and time consuming and make it a challenge in the current marketplace to pass the cost onto the majority of our customers, Odak said.

In Louisiana, John Stone Oil consistently supplies marine fuel that meet the latest update of the ISO 8217 guidance, which is from 2017, but according to Odak the industry standard in the US is still to supply 2010 specifications bunkers. The lack of regulation to supply consistent quality fuel into the global market lends to "less that quality-centric organizations suppling inconsistent product", Odak noted.

Working with various international marine fuel laboratories, John Stone Oil has developed a new test slate. The company is also able to see trends that may signal that extra measure needs to be taken with a fuel or blend stock component. John Stone has its own lab, which allows it to "keep the genie in the bottle" and not blend questionable components, Odak said.

The fuel contamination reflects constant downward pressure on oil supply amid contango markets in other parts of the world, as well as the ever-increasing need for the same feedstocks used for bunkers being sold at a premium in the carbon black market instead. Contaminated marine fuel was de-bunkered in various ports and continues to find its way into the bunker stream internationally. "The old thought that dilution is the solution absolutely does not hold true here", Odak said.

He noted that there might have been slight uptick in their New Orleans bunker sales as vessels avoided reported contamination in nearby Houston, but that there are limited number of vessels that call on both Houston and New Orleans, limiting the impact.