New Guidelines For Bunkering Service Quality Introduced

The latest amendments to MARPOL by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) were acknowledged to bring tremendous advancement with relation to sea voyage and pollution issues. Although India has not yet accepted the MARPOL guidelines, the Director General (DG) has single-handedly gone forward to implement many of its regulations by issuing mandatory guidelines for bunker suppliers.

Currently, bunkering services in India are a strict no-no, not only for many Indian vessels, but also foreign going ships, owing to the exorbitant pricing and unreliable quality of fuel. Presently, bunker price in India is approximately 50% more than in Singapore. Cases of break-down of an entire shipping operation have been reported, where contaminated fuel was detected to be the sole cause. These guidelines are expected to remove apprehension over the operational safety of ships using bunker supplied in India.