Important Points to Consider While Providing Marine Bunkering Services
In simple terms, marine bunkering services refer to “supplying a ship with fuel.” There are lot of components that are covered under ship bunkering services. In this article we will understand the importance of marine bunkering services and the important points that should be considered while providing ship bunker.
Several steps are required to be carried out before and after providing marine bunkering services.
The same can be elaborated as mentioned below:
- The first step in terms of fuel bunkering is that the bunkers have to be surveyed and supervised before they are utilised for ship bunkering. The survey is carried out to find out whether all the preliminary measures like the fitting and installation of pipes for the passing of the fuel is appropriate or not. Additionally, since the survey requires the actual plans and diagrams of the pipes during the time of the survey, if there is any modification required to be made to the pipes, then those are pointed out so that later complications are completely avoided
- The second step involves obtaining all the necessary and required certification from OMIL/MID – Organisation of Legal Metrology/Measurement Instrument Directive. If all the requirements are met and the equipments and their set ups are verified thoroughly then the marine bunkering services can be started up. Alternatively, even in the absence of the OMIL/MID certification too, a fuel bunkering service can be started up, after taking necessary permissions.
- There needs to be regular and constant monitoring of the system operation in order to verify its smooth working. The monitoring aspect would involve checking of the installed equipments and their continuity in operations
Apart from these steps mentioned, it also becomes important that the fuel bunkers follow the protocol of saving and preserving the marine ecosystem by minimising and not wasting even a single drop of fuel. This is done by making sure that the bunkers that are used for fuel bunkering are not over-used. As in case of any over-used equipment, it would mean more input of fuel and thereby more amount of exhaust and other harmful substances into the oceanic atmosphere. It should be also noted that the ships that are used for fuel bunkering are does not have any design or machinery defect and are not over-used; this problem can be solved right before it escalates into a huger one.
Ship bunkering is an important and inevitable offshore marine activity. According to a statistic, the operational expenditure of a ship when it comes to fuel bunkering is somewhere around 50-70% of the total operating expenditure of the ship.
There are many companies located all over the globe that undertake marine bunkering services. These companies have come under the scanner after the recent increase in oil spills around the globe. It is therefore important that they take necessary precautions while providing marine bunkering services, both at sea and at ports.
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You’re making a very important point here. Strict supervision and frequent surveys could not be stressed enough when it comes to fuel. It’s also hard to find a reliable provider without personal recommendations. To add at least one, Lanka Maritime Services (LMS) are efficient, professional and they offer complete services including crew transfers, supplies and fresh water shipping to ships coming to Sri Lanka. You can visit their website (https://www.lankamarine.com/) for more details