1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 MARPOL Annex VI contains requirements that apply to
fuel oil used on board ships. Regulation 14 of MARPOL Annex VI sets limits on the
sulphur content of fuel oil used on board ships, both within designated SOX
Emission Control Areas (regulation 14.4) and outside those areas (regulation 14.1). Regulation 18.3 contains requirements that fuel oil delivered
to and used on board ships shall not jeopardize the safety of ships or adversely affect
the performance of machinery.
1.2 Fuel oil purchasers are responsible for correctly specifying the fuel oil which is to
be supplied. It is the responsibility of the supplier to deliver fuel oil which is
compliant with the agreed specification.
1.3 These best practices are intended to assist fuel oil purchasers/users in assuring the
quality of fuel oil delivered to, and used on board ships, with respect to both
compliance with the MARPOL requirements and the safe and efficient operation of the
ship.
1.4 These best practices are recommended for all ships and should also be taken into
account in those cases where fuel oil purchasing decisions are made by the ship
charterer pursuant to a chartering agreement. Under such a charter agreement,
communication between the owner and the charterer is paramount. It is recommended that
clear requirements on these communications should be included within the appropriate
charter party clause.
1.5 It should be noted that, under MARPOL Annex VI, compliance with regulation 14 begins with sourcing and purchasing compliant
fuel oil and mitigating the risk of poor quality fuel oil being delivered to the
ship.
1.6 These best practices do not comprehensively address fuel oil handling procedures
subsequent to fuel oil loading:
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.1 on board fuel oil management is an important element of preventing operational
issues and sulphur non-compliance. Improper handling of fuel oil on board may
lead to non-compliance with MARPOL requirements, even if the fuel oil received was
compliant;
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.2 marine fuel oil completely meeting a recognized standard, such as ISO 8217
purchase specifications, still requires fuel oil treatment before it meets most
manufacturers' requirements for combustion, particularly residual grades;
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.3 to ensure continued compliance once compliant fuel oil is delivered on board,
ships should have suitable procedures and documents for use and safe handling of
fuel oil on board. These procedures should form part of the company's Safety
Management System (SMS) as required by the ISM
Code, supported by equipment operating and maintenance manuals;
and
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.4 each ship should be provided with on board fuel oil change over procedures
(where applicable). Crew members should receive appropriate familiarization in
implementing these procedures.
1.7 When developing their onboard procedures, ship operators should also consider the
guidance provided by existing industry practices and standards, for example those
published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
1.8 There is increasing interest in low sulphur fuel oils, which are being developed as
an alternative to conventional marine heavy fuel oils or low sulphur distillate oils
specified by ISO 8217 Petroleum products – Fuels (class F) – Specifications of marine
fuels. These fuel oils may be blends which carry a higher risk of incompatibility with
other fuels than is the case with more traditional fuel oils, and therefore it may be
necessary to clean storage tanks and fuel piping before handling such fuel oils.
Machinery and fuel oil handling systems may require modification in order to use such
fuel oils safely and reliably.
1.9 Fuel oil purchasers considering the use of such fuel oils should engage with
suppliers to establish any special requirements for such products and perform a detailed
technical analysis, including issues of compatibility and whether it will be necessary
to make modifications and adjustments to machinery and fuel oil handling systems before
ordering the product.
1.10 It should be noted that unintended contamination of a product may happen in any part
of the supply chain, including on board bunker barges. This is especially important for
0.10% sulphur fuel oil since any contamination with higher sulphur content fuel oil is
likely to result in that batch of fuel oil becoming non-compliant.
2 DEFINITIONS
2.1 SOLAS
Convention: International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea,
1974, as amended.
2.2 MARPOL
Convention: International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships, 1973, as amended.
2.3 ISM
Code: International Safety Management Code.
2.4 Fuel oil purchaser/Purchaser: Secures and pays for bunkers delivered to a ship
at the operator side (user) and not a trader. Can be a shipowner's operator or a
charterer's operator; and often used in contracts as counterpart of the supplier.
2.5 Trader: The trader buys bunkers from a physical supplier and sells to a
purchaser without holding the product physically.
2.6 Broker: The broker is used by purchasers and physical suppliers to facilitate
buying and selling of fuel oil.
2.7 Physical supplier/Supplier: Buys, owns and stores fuel oil and sells bunkers.
Distributes bunkers from pipelines, trucks and/or barges. May blend products to meet the
customer's specifications. May own or charter a distribution network or may hire a barge
provider from supply to supply. Issues the bunker delivery note (BDN).
2.8 Shipowner: The company which holds the International Safety Management
Document of Compliance for the ship under the ISM
Code.
2.9 Quality-oriented fuel oil supplier: A fuel oil supplier with a quality
management system certified in accordance with an internationally recognized standard
(ISO 9001 or equivalent), and which may be registered with the Member State and/or
licensed, where such licensing/accreditation schemes are in place; and therefore can be
expected to be on time, meet the statutory requirements, supply the quantity and quality
stated on the BDN, provide support and be able to address relevant issues.
3 GOALS
3.1 The best practices set forth in this document reflect a set of goals intended to
assure the quality of fuel oil used on board ships, as follows:
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.1 support informed decision-making by fuel oil purchasers;
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.2 guide fuel oil purchasers in ordering fuel oil of the correct specification
and implementing measures to confirm that the fuel oil delivered is compliant
with this specification;
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.3 encourage proper interactions between the ship crew responsible for fuel oil
handling and all other parties (including the fuel oil supplier) from when fuel
oil is ordered up to the point of delivery;
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.4 mitigate or minimize risk for technical or administrative problems emanating
from bunkering of fuel oil;
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.5 avoid disputes in the supply process; and
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.6 promote compliance with all aspects of regulations 14 and 18 of MARPOL Annex VI which specify the permissible
sulphur content in fuel oil and the quality of marine fuel oil.
3.2 The best practices provided in section 4 are intended to assist fuel oil purchasers
to achieve the above goals.
3.3 Where a ship is exempted from some of the provisions of MARPOL Annex VI under regulation 3 of the Annex, or will comply with the requirements
of the Convention using an equivalent means under regulation 4 of the Annex, fuel oil purchasers should consider
any conditions attached to the exemption or equivalent means which may affect fuel oil
purchasing.
4 BEST PRACTICES
General
4.1 The fuel oil purchaser should ensure that the fuel oil ordered is correctly specified
considering the ship's known technical capabilities and intended area of operation.
These requirements should be communicated to the charterer in those cases where the
charterer purchases the fuel oil (see paragraph 1.4).
4.2 In addition to these guidelines, fuel oil purchasers should also refer to ISO 13739
Petroleum products – Procedures for transfer of bunkers to vessels, relevant national
standards such as SS 524: 2014 – Singapore Specification for quality management for
bunker supply chain (QMBS), SS 600 – Singapore Standard Code of Practice for Bunkering,
and to industry best practices such as recommendations published by CIMACfootnote.
4.3 It should also be noted that engine and equipment manufacturers may have set
additional requirements for the quality of fuel oil to be used and those should also be
taken into account.
Choice of fuel oil supplier
4.4 Fuel oil purchasers should strive to purchase fuel oil from quality-oriented fuel oil
suppliers. The following questions are intended to help fuel oil purchasers to identify
quality-oriented fuel oil suppliers:
4.4.1 Is the fuel oil supplier included in a local or national registry?
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Verify that the supplier is listed on the register of local
suppliers of fuel oil required to be maintained by the Parties to MARPOL Annex VI pursuant to regulation 18.9.1 of MARPOL Annex VI. Inclusion on such
a register is not a substitute for purchaser due diligence since the regulation 18.9.1 register is simply a list of local
fuel oil suppliers and the qualifications for inclusion on the register may vary
significantly between ports and Administrations. This information should be
easily accessible, in most cases the information should be available on the
internet.
4.4.2 Does the fuel oil supplier have a license issued by the coastal State or a local
port authority?
4.4.3 Does the fuel oil supplier have a quality management system (QMS) in place?
- A quality-oriented fuel oil supplier should have a QMS meeting
the requirements of ISO 9001 Quality management systems – Requirements and ISO 14001
Environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use (or equivalent
national standards). The QMS should include references to the standards which the
supplier will adhere to along with any independent third party accreditation of the
QMS or elements of the QMS.
4.4.4 Does the fuel oil supplier have procedures for fuel oil transfer operations?
4.4.5 If fuel oil will be delivered using barges or tankers, fuel oil purchasers should
request that information on quality assurance for these vessels should be included
within the information provided on their QMS (see paragraph 4.4.3).
4.4.6 Fuel oil purchasers should consider utilising other sources of information,
assessment methods and the reviews and experiences of other purchasers. Although third
party reviews and information may be of assistance to fuel oil purchasers, caution
should be exercised in placing undue reliance on third party opinion since it may be
incomplete or contain errors. These other sources of information and assessment methods
may include:
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.1 consulting the reviews of others (where available) and seeking the views of
other purchasers of fuel oil;
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.2 requesting that the supplier provides references from existing customers;
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.3 use of local knowledge, consulting local agents;
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.4 use of statistics. Various sources collect data concerning fuel oil supplier
activities which may be used by fuel oil purchasers to help them ascertain if a
fuel oil supplier is quality-oriented;
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.5 reviewing information made public by Member States pursuant to
regulation 18.9 of MARPOL Annex VI, in particular any
information submitted to the Organization regarding failures by fuel oil
suppliers to meet the requirements of regulations 14 and/or 18 of MARPOL Annex VI;
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.6 where available, consulting lists which grade suppliers by the quality of the
fuel oils supplied through testing agency data; and
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.7 any other sources of information and assessment procedures a purchaser may
have in defining the reputability of the fuel oil supplier within the context of
this guidance.
4.4.7 Fuel oil testing statistics may help identify supplier-specific trends for sulphur
compliance and other quality parameters. Note, however, that caution is needed when
using this data, for example, samples which are tested above the specification limit but
within ISO 4259 Petroleum products – Determination and application of precision data in
relation to methods of test - are sometimes incorrectly reported as off-specification,
resulting in the statistical analysis being misleading.
4.4.8 It should be noted that testing agencies may not necessarily have information on
supplier quality of service or ability to deliver the right quantity.
Contracting
4.5 The contract specifies the fuel oil to be supplied, and how the supplier will fulfil
the contractual agreement.
4.5.1 Where the charterer supplies the fuel oil it should be recognized that the
"purchaser" (the charterer) is not the same as the "user" (the ship), and their
interests are not necessarily aligned. In these cases, the technical requirements of the
user/ship should be communicated to, and taken into account, by the purchaser even when
the commercial interests of the "purchaser" and "user" differ.
4.5.2 Fuel oil purchasers may purchase fuel oil directly from a physical supplier or they
may utilize the services of traders or brokers when purchasing fuel oil. Traders buy and
sell fuel oil and carry the financial risk associated with buying and selling. A broker
usually works on commission and does not buy and sell the bunkers, hence they do not
carry the financial risk associated with buying and selling.
4.5.3 Purchasers should require that suppliers follow best practices with regard to fuel
oil quality, including a quality assurance system (see paragraph 4.4.3), and confirm
that procedures are in place if non-compliant fuel oil is detected or delivered.
4.5.4 Bunker specifications and any requirements for bunkering procedures should be
stated in the contract. The contract should:
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.1 state the quantity ordered. This is usually in metric tonnes by
mass; however, other units are sometimes used. The unit used should be clearly
stated. The required maximum sulphur content of the fuel oil should meet the
applicable requirements of regulation 14 of MARPOL Annex VI;
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.2 include a detailed technical specification for the fuel oil along with
acceptable quality parameters;
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.3 where the fuel oil is to be specified with reference to ISO 8217 Petroleum
products – Fuels (class F) – Specifications of marine fuels, clearly state which
edition is to be used (i.e. 2005, 2010, 2012 or 2017; use of the latest edition
of specification is encouraged but this may not be practical in all countries)
or, when available, ISO/PAS 23263; and
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.4 for non-ISO 8217 standard fuel oils, as a minimum the
specification should require that the fuel oils need to meet the requirements of
regulations 18.3.1 and 18.3.2 of MARPOL Annex VI, and SOLAS chapter II-2.
4.5.5 If fuel oil which is outside the requirements of regulation 14.1 or 14.4 of MARPOL Annex VI is ordered for use with an approved
alternative means of compliance such as exhaust gas cleaning systems, this should be
communicated to the supplier.
4.5.6 Fuel oil purchasers should include a requirement in their Quality assurance (QA)
system to check and approve the quantity to be ordered and quality requirement prior to
transmitting their order to the supplier.
Documentation
4.6.1 Bunker delivery notes (BDNs), as required by regulation 18 of MARPOL Annex VI, should be provided by the
supplier. Text on the BDN should as a minimum include the requirements of appendix V of MARPOL Annex VI.
4.6.2 In case the product supplied differs in handling characteristics from
traditional/mainstream fuel oils, the supplier should provide a guide/publication of
best practice which includes recommendations for storage and handling of the supplied
product.
Fuel oil receiving on board, sampling and testing
4.7.1 There should be appropriate record keeping on board, especially with
regard to maintaining the oil record book required by MARPOL Annex VI and MARPOL Annex I, regulation 17. Detailed guidance for making entries into the oil
record book is provided in MEPC.1/Circ.736/Rev.2 on Guidance for the recording of
operations in the Oil Record Book Part I – Machinery space operations (all
ships), as revised.
4.7.2 The receiving ship should have procedures for bunkering, fuel oil handling, and
storage of fuel oil, including spill, pollution and emergency response. Shipboard
emergency plans addressing different categories of emergencies are required under the
provisions of both the SOLAS and MARPOL
Conventions, the ISM Code and supporting guidance, including:
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.1 resolution A.1072(28) on Revised
guidelines for a structure of an integrated system of contingency planning
for shipboard emergencies provides guidance for integrated emergency
response planning; and
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.2 regulation 37 of MARPOL Annex I requires
ships to have a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan (SOPEP), guidance for
developing the SOPEP is provided by resolution MEPC.54(32) on Guidelines for the
development of shipboard oil pollution emergency plans, as amended by
resolution MEPC.86(44).
4.7.3 Detailed guidance for bunkering procedures, including a sample bunkering checklist,
may be found in various available guidance documents, for example chapter 25 of the
International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT).
4.7.4 Clear communications should be established between the receiving ship and supplier
(bunker barge, truck or terminal) and emergency stop and response actions agreed prior
to any bunkering activities commencing.
4.7.5 Handling onboard should, so far as is possible, avoid co-mingling of fuel oils in
tanks or fuel oil lines in order to minimize cross contamination.
4.7.6 A representative fuel oil sample should be collected during the bunkering process.
Guidelines for collecting the MARPOL sample are provided in resolution MEPC.182(59) on 2009 Guidelines for the sampling of fuel oil
for determination of compliance with the revised MARPOL Annex VI.
4.7.7 The use of cameras arranged to witness and record bunkering and sampling processes
could be considered.
4.7.8 It is recommended that the fuel oil purchaser has a sample of fuel oil collected
during bunkering analysed to confirm that it complies with the agreed specification in
the contract. Sample analysis should be performed by an independent laboratory and
according to relevant international test standards accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 General
requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories or an equivalent
national standard. Accredited laboratories in a particular country should be listed on
the national accreditation bodies' website. It is also recommended that laboratories
have an ISO 9001 Quality management systems – Requirements, or equivalent, quality
management system. Where possible, it is recommended that fuel oil should not be used
until this analysis has been completed.
4.7.9 Purchasers should confirm the accreditation or certification of the laboratory they
intend to use, in particular they should check whether any accreditation is general in
nature (overall lab practices) or for specific analytical methods.
4.7.10 The contract terms and conditions should stipulate how the laboratory analysis
will be carried out in the case of disputes.
4.7.11 In some circumstances it is not necessary to make full laboratory analyses before
using the fuel oil which has been delivered (e.g. fuel oil is frequently supplied on
contract with same supplier).
4.7.12 Where an analysis is required by the Administration then the analysis should be
carried out in accordance with the verification procedures of the Administration.
4.7.13 While a fuel oil purchaser/user may choose to use ISO 13739, ISO
4259, or other testing protocols, it should be mindful that MARPOL Annex VI sets out the procedures for compliance and
enforcement, including Appendix VI fuel verification procedure for MARPOL Annex VI fuel oil samples. Guidance is also provide in
resolution MEPC.182(59) on 2009 Guidelines for the sampling of
fuel oil for determination of compliance with the revised MARPOL Annex VI, and the Guidelines for onboard sampling for
the verification of the sulphur content of the fuel oil used on board ships
(MEPC.1/Circ.864). If a different test or a different
accreditation is desired, it can be specified in the fuel oil purchase contract itself.
However, that contract will not override the requirements of MARPOL Annex VI with respect to determining compliance with the
mandatory standards in a compliance or enforcement action brought by a flag, port, or
coastal State.
Dispute resolution
4.8 Dispute handling/resolution arrangements in case of dispute should be specified in
the contract.