Port authorities at Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges are clamping down on bunkering market cheating and the shorting of deliveries in operations.
Both ports have announced that they plan to go ahead with new rules to deal with these issues by making make mass flow meters mandatory by 2026.
This comes after the two port authorities reported at the end of 2022 that they were working on addressing these long-standing challenges to come in line with other ports around the world that have already introduced technology to prevent cheating and shorting. They said independent research had revealed that there are currently quality challenges in the bunkering markets at Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Zeebrugge.
According to the new rules operators in the ports will have to produce certified bunker measurement systems on board fuel barges and bunker vessels. The system will reflect the exact volumes of fuel that is being delivered to each seagoing vessel bunkering in the ports, in order to improve transparency, efficiency, and reliability.
The port authorities, which have engaged in discussions with bunkering operators and other stakeholders regarding implementation of the rule, said that currently just 40 of the 170 bunker vessels operating in Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Zeebrugge are equipped with a bunker measurement system.
Antwerp-Bruges already includes the requirement in new permits issued for bunkering vessels, while Rotterdam is yet to update its permits.
European ports are taking their lead from other bunker markets, like Singapore, which made meters mandatory five years ago. Singapore has implemented strict penalties for cheating, including the cancellation of permits, which it says has led to a significant improvement in the market.
