CEO’s introduction to the December newsletter
First let me wish you all a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year. I can’t believe how fast a year goes by, this year has been exceptionally busy, and I believe IBIA has been at the forefront of most of the bunkering issues.
Now that the decisions have been made about 2020, the key task for us going into the New Year is communication.
2017 will focus on “getting down to business” as we aim to acquire and disseminate information about what is happening across the fuel producers, the fuel suppliers and the fuel users. See our item on “Communication key as industry prepares for 2020 global 0.50% sulphur cap”.
January the 1st is D-Day for Singapore and mandatory use of MFM’s see “Almost entire Singapore fuel oil barge fleet approved for MFM bunker deliveries ahead of January 1, 2017”.
Also the IMO decision has given the chequered flag to scrubber manufacturers and I understand they have had more enquiries in the space of the last few weeks than the preceding years. Unni provides an update on IBIA’s participation at the scrubber association’s workshop as it examines the issues ahead of 2020.
Having had a very successful convention at the beginning of November we have a Q&A article from Gibraltar port chief Bob Sanguinetti as he talks bunkers plus an overview of the Training in Gibraltar and the IBIA Convention: A 360° view on current bunker industry issues.
You will see that there has been a lot of other things going on at IMO and Unni provides updates on:
IMO regulation on low flashpoint fuels taking effect on January 1, 2017
Chinese ECA: 0.50% at berth sulphur limit taking effect on January 1, 2017
IBIA report from IMO: Council 117
There are also updates on:
HSSE project: Barge standards and barge-ship interface under scrutiny
LNG bunkering plans are taking shape
Finally can I ask you to look out for IBIA’s upcoming events for the first quarter of 2017 and the board elections email will be landing in your inbox the first week of January. I hope you all have a great break and hope to see as many of you as possible at our dinner in February.
Best wishes,
Peter Hall