Bunkering Operation at ARA ( Amsterdam-Ryotterdam- Antwerp)

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sts07
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Bunkering Operation at ARA ( Amsterdam-Ryotterdam- Antwerp)

Post by sts07 »

As I see most of active users work around the Canada. I'm working in imo type 2 chemical tanker due to nature of my vessel type. We stop by ARA ports a lot. Therefore we carry out most of bunkering operations within these ports. Their fuel quality is fine however they cut around %10 of fuel at the beginning especially almost every MGO bunkering operations. Then we start negotiation with bunker to get missing fuel back as much as we can. I hate it every time as 3rd engineer, i embark barge and before the starting operation to take notes about their tank levels ( they allow only check digital leveldatics). Is there anybody deal with same problem at ARA ports.
Revolver
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Re: Bunkering Operation at ARA ( Amsterdam-Ryotterdam- Antwerp)

Post by Revolver »

They're crooks, and it's part of the cost of doing business with them.
They hold the cards.
You can either get serious and win once, and they wont serve you again.
Or you can bite the bullet and get the FO you need.
I'm sure the company managers realize what's going on, I dont think as a 3rd you need to get upset over it...there's no real winning.
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Re: Bunkering Operation at ARA ( Amsterdam-Ryotterdam- Antwerp)

Post by Max Oiltemp »

C/E since 1990 and only once.., ONCE, have I seen a fuel slip which erred on the side of the vessel. Maybe a dozen times (mostly North American ports) the slip was more-or-less in agreement with our own figures. DnV has/had an excellent presentation on scams perpetrated by shore facilities but at the end of the day, you have to sail after bunkering and leave the wrangling to Head Office. Coriolis mass-flow meter readings are a help, though.

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JK
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Re: Bunkering Operation at ARA ( Amsterdam-Ryotterdam- Antwerp)

Post by JK »

Your comments on the Coriolis meter reminded me of an article I downloaded about 6 years ago on this very topic:
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Re: Bunkering Operation at ARA ( Amsterdam-Ryotterdam- Antwerp)

Post by Big Pete »

I spent 30 years as Chief Engineer at Sea. Japan, North America and UK were pretty good, Japan you often got a little more than you thought you should.
Most owners/ operators get their fuel through a broker who searches the World for the cheapest price per ton. How can you sell your fuel cheaper than anyone else, who buys the fuel from the same refinery? Simples, ruthlessly cut costs and give short measure.
In Singapore we had a Bunker surveyor, but the Bunker companies would only permit the surveyors they approved to carry out a survey on their barges. Guess whose side the surveyor was on?
When I have refused to sign the delivery noter I have been told that if I want more fuel they will just top up our tanks with Sea Water. I don't know if there is an answer, I never found one.

Some companies have their own meters installed in the Bunkering pipeline, standard on supply boats so that you can measure how much you are selling to the rigs.
However the common ways of fooling that are opening an air cock on the fuel transfer pump so that air is drawn through the pump and thoroughly mixed with the fuel, increasing its volume as it goes through the meter and when you take ullages after bunkering, but after a couple of days, the air separates out and all the tank levels drop. If you have a system of measuring the tank levels remotely, based on the pressure at the bottom of the tank there will be a discrepancy because the addition of air obviously reduces the SG of the fuel delivered. So while the remote tank level reading will stay the same the ullages will increase.

BP
It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.
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