Case Studies
2018 – A Year of Fuel Quality Concerns?
2018 will live long in the memory for any number of different reasons however, for those involved in the bunkering sector it will probably be remembered for the incidents linked to the Houston fuel contamination cases which affected in excess of 100 vessels during the first half of the year. The furore created by this […]
Direct Injection GCMS Screening – Intertek Lintec Case Study
During the months from March to May of 2018 the marine fuel supply sector experienced the most significant fuel contamination scare that had been seen for a number of years. It was estimated that somewhere in the region of 100 vessels were supplied with a fuel product that contained “unexpected chemical compounds” from ports in […]
High sediment fuel in Southern Europe
An Intertek ShipCare client vessel bunkered 150MT of IFO-180 fuel in Southern Europe. The supplier was a global oil major. A sample of this fuel was taken using a continuous drip sampler and sent by courier to Intertek ShipCare’s UK laboratory for analysis. Analysis for this (24-hour) test was commenced the same day as the […]
High ash fuel with lube oil contamination
An Intertek ShipCare vessel bunkered 150MT of IFO-180 fuel on the Coast of Africa. A sample of the fuel was taken using a continuous drip sampler, connected to the bunker loading line, and couriered to Intertek ShipCare’s UK laboratory for analysis. Analysis was conducted on the sample against the ISO specification ISO 8217:1996. The fuel was found […]
Timely identification of problems
An Intertek ShipCare vessel, bunkering in North America, took a manifold drip sample during bunkering. Unfortunately the vessel did not land the sample at the time of bunkering and sailed with it on board for several days. Once landed, the sample was quickly couriered to an Intertek ShipCare laboratory and analysis conducted on the same day that the […]
Microbiological contamination identified by Intertek ShipCare
A small, gas oil burning, vessel bunkered 30 tonnes of gas oil at a North Sea port. The company’s policy was not to test gas oil before use. After 10 hours burning the new fuel the in-line fuel pressure dropped from a usual 2.2 barg to 1.5 Bar(g). On instruction from the Chief Engineer the […]
Proactive advice avoided time consuming, and costly, delays.
During loading of several hundred tonnes of IFO-180 in the Gulf of Mexico, the Chief Engineer on board an Intertek ShipCare client vessel expressed concern that the supplier’s certificate of quality indicated the presence of chemicals within the fuel. The supplier’s certificate of quality gave a viscosity @ 50 deg. C of 151 cSt, and a […]
High viscosity fuel disputed by supplier
An Intertek ShipCare client vessel bunkered 150MT of IFO-180 fuel in Southern Europe. The supplier was a global oil major. A sample of this fuel was taken using a continuous drip sampler, and couriered to Intertek ShipCare’s UK laboratory for analysis. Analysis was conducted the same day as the sample was received at the laboratory. […]
High viscosity fuel identified by Intertek ShipCare
An Intertek ShipCare client vessel bunkered in the Americas, and took 1,200MT of IFO- 380 from one of the oil majors. This sample was couriered to Intertek ShipCare’s UK laboratory for analysis. All analysis tested were on specification for IFO-380/RMG-35, except for the fuel’s viscosity which was 606 cSt @ 50 deg. C and 47 cSt […]
High aluminium and silicon disputed by a supplier
An Intertek ShipCare client vessel bunkered in the Gulf of Mexico, and took 200MT of IFO-180 from a global bunker-oil supplier. A sample of this fuel was taken using a continuous drip sampler and couriered to Intertek ShipCare’s UK laboratory for analysis. Analysis was conducted on the same day that the sample arrived at the laboratory, […]
Chemical screening proves its worth
Although the issue of sulphur content has received the lion’s share of coverage since the advent of MARPOL and its subsequent revisions, it is not the only issue exercising the minds of the regulators. For example, the presence of chemical waste contravenes both Regulation 18 of the revised Annex VI and Section 5 of ISO […]