The International Maritime Organisation’s 2020 global sulphur limit for marine fuel oil has been in force for more than a year. BIMCO, The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), INTERCARGO and INTERTANKO are calling on Fleet Managers, Vessel Managers, Technical Superintendents, Masters and Chief Engineers to share their insight and experiences with marine fuels in a new survey aimed at identifying potential quality and quantity issues.

Following on from the industry survey conducted in the first quarter of 2020 that showed the switch to low-sulphur fuel has not been without problems, the four organisations are launching a new survey, this time with the aim to get an even greater understanding of issues encountered by the industry, particularly issues related to the bunkering and use of marine fuel oil.

This Survey will run for a year until 1 May 2022 and the information gathered will help identify specific areas in the fuel supply and management chain that need improvement.

The survey comprises of two different sections, that can be submitted separately:

• Section 1 contains questions related to fuel oil quality and are aimed only at ships using compliant fuel oil i.e., VLSFO and ULSFO.
• Section 2 contains questions related to fuel oil quantity and are for ships using both compliant fuel oil and HSFO with a sulphur content exceeding 0.50% m/m in combination with scrubbers.

The questionnaire can be downloaded here.

Answers and any related evidence are invited from ships operating worldwide in our bid to get a detailed understanding of all fuel related issues encountered by the industry. Information gained from the survey will help in improving quality, quantity, and safety standards of marine fuel oil through related work at the IMO and other fora.

As published on International Chamber of Shipping