The study was into the use of a national standard developed for the marine fuelling, or “bunkering”, industry and was initiated by SDO@SCIC on behalf of Enterprise Singapore and the Singapore Standards Council. The standard at the centre of the study, Technical Reference 48: 2015 (TR 48) – Bunker Mass Flow Metering (MFM), has now been further developed with ISO to create an International Standard. Mandated by the Port of Singapore for the delivery of marine fuel oil in the bunkering industry, the research concluded that the standard’s adoption has the potential to save the industry SGD 80 to SGD 199 million annually.
Cost savings for bunkering operations account for an estimated 66 % to 76 % of total savings, with the remainder attributed to reductions in the number of disputes that arose, as well as the time needed to resolve disputes when they do occur.
©Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has required adherence to TR 48 since June 2016, since which time several bunker suppliers observed enhanced bunker schedule management due to faster and more predictable turnaround in bunkering transactions. A number of shipowners added that inventory management had improved with the increased certainty in the quantity of bunkers received. They highlighted that beyond cost savings, use of TR 48 improved efficiency, productivity and transparency of bunkering transactions. The standard was the first to cover a set of core requirements for metering system qualification, installation, testing, procedures and documentation of bunker custody transfer using the Coriolis Mass Flow Meter system.
©Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Development of International Standards
Two recently published International Standards are expected to bring the same benefits highlighted by the Singaporean study to the global shipping industry. ISO 21562 was developed by a subcommittee of the ISO technical committee responsible for ships and marine technology: ISO/TC 8/SC 3 covers piping and machinery and is managed by ANSI, the ISO member for the USA. ISO 22192 was developed by a subcommittee of the ISO technical committee responsible for petroleum and related products, fuels and lubricants from natural or synthetic sources: ISO/TC 28/SC 2 covers measurement of petroleum and related products and is managed by BSI, the ISO member for the UK.
Standards success in bunkering
Discover more about the bunkering benefits highlighted by the study, with these materials developed by the ISO member for Singapore.
- Learn more with this handy TR 48 factsheet from SSC.
- Read the full independent case study.
- Get a snapshot in the simple executive summary.
