PRESS RELEASE: Parker Kittiwake, a leading global manufacturer of condition monitoring technologies, has today announced the launch of its ground-breaking X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analyser, a portable testing device which, among other parameters, measures the sulphur content in fuel. The XRF provides an accurate indication of sulphur content through the analysis of a small fuel sample in less than three minutes. This gives both shipowners and Port State Control (PSC) the ability to conduct laboratory-standard testing onsite, before non-compliant fuel is bunkered and before a vessel carrying non-compliant fuel leaves port.
Traditional methods for confirming compliance with sulphur limits rely on paperwork requirements such as the Bunker Delivery Note (BDN). This not only significantly increases the risk of non-compliance and subsequent penalties for shipowners, but also heightens the environmental impact of burning fuel with a higher sulphur content. In addition, the delay incurred by laboratory analysis creates the risk that the vessel may have left port with non-compliant fuel onboard, or may require non-compliant fuel to be de-bunkered and compliant fuel re-bunkered, incurring significant delays and additional cost. The XRF Analyser provides a spot-check analysis of the sulphur content in fuel on site, allowing PSC to ascertain compliance almost instantly, and affording shipowners the opportunity to avoid fines, plus the time, expense and operational impact of bunkering non-compliant fuel.
Larry Rumbol, Marine Condition Monitoring Manager, commented:
“Given the lack of environmental policing on the high seas, enforcement of the 2020 global sulphur cap is a daunting challenge for the industry. Efforts to develop robust enforcement solutions tend to focus on paperwork checks at ports, but this must be reinforced by accurate, reliable testing data.
“Shipowners and operators are fighting an uphill battle to ensure they can effectively prove compliance. And Port State Control needs a way to ascertain compliance quickly and onsite, allowing them to take timely and appropriate action. With significant confusion over the stipulations in the way sulphur measurements are made – for example it is possible for fuel to pass ISO 4259 commercial tests but fail against MARPOL standards – it is clear that both parties require easy access to the data they need to accurately check and prove compliance.”
