IBIA runs Bunkering Forum at The Asia Pacific Maritime Forum
IBIA organised a very successful Bunkering Forum at the recent Asia Pacific Maritime Forum, which was held in Singapore on 17 March, 2016.
The Forum attracted over 100 delegates from across the bunker and maritime industry in the region.
The hot topics were the challenges associated with the emerging ECA’s in China and globally and the IMO global sulphur cap which is expected to be implemented in either 2020/2025 subject to the availability study currently underway at IMO. The discussions covered the resulting implications for fuel quality and supply, as well as alternative fuels and price differentials.
The forum also considered the developments made in liquefied natural gas (LNG), and the emerging bunkering hubs in America, Europe and Singapore.
Representatives from fuel testing services (VPS and Intertek Shipcare) offered advice to buyers on the options, opportunities and pitfalls of compliant hybrid and distillate fuels in ECA’s. The oil major, ExxonMobil, provided information on their latest ultra low sulphur hybdrid product options.
The Forum concluded with an interactive session of debate chaired by IBIA in Asia’s EXCO Chairman Douglas Raitt, Regional Consultancy Manager, Lloyds Register Asia.
Talking about the successful event, he said: “This event was particularly well attended this year by both IBIA members and non-members, and people were really engaged, very keen to analyse and discuss the key issues.
“There’s a lot happening in the market at the moment and our discussion covered mass flow meters, ECA’s, the implementation of the global Sulphur cap in either 2020 or 2025. We discussed the impact on oil price if say there is a material uptake by the industry of fitting scrubbers before the implementation date, what will shipowners do when Singapore makes mass flow meter deliveries mandatory in 2017 alongside the perhaps lack of knowledge and concerns by ship operators about the accuracy of the readings and compliance with MPA requirements, what about hybrid fuels and the 0.1% ECA cap in the US and across Europe. It was a very lively discussion and clearly demonstrated the level of concern across the industry”.
The 14th Asia Pacific Maritime Forum 2016, is one of the oldest and most popular maritime events in Asia. The Forum includes both a conference with keynote business and technical presentations and a wide ranging trade exhibition.
The picture shows, from left to right: Mr Douglas Rait, Chairman of the IBIA in Asia EXCO, Capt.Rahul Choudhuri, Mr Ng Hanwei, Capt.Peter Hall, CEO IBIA, Mr John LaRese, Mr Maurice O’Donoghue, Mr Simon Neo, IBIA in Asia Manager.