A Singapore-registered company has been fined for selling bunkers in the city-state without a licence.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said on 26 August that JL Petroleum pleaded guilty in court on 18 August.
JL Petroleum sold bunkers on 14 occasions between 2 and 25 June 2013, using the licence of another bunker seller, Excel Petroleum Enterprise.
Consequently, Excel Petroleum had its licence revoked on 15 January 2014.
In recent years, the MPA has been cracking down on companies that illegally sell bunkers by using other suppliers’ licence.
Singapore is the world’s biggest bunkering port by sales volumes, and competition among fuel suppliers is cutthroat.
Bunker suppliers must maintain a certain amount of sales volumes to maintain their licence.
Traders told IHS Maritime that the illegal practice of “sharing” licences had hurt the image of Singapore’s bunkering industry.
“This, and the cappuccino effect that saw buyers being short-changed on fuel, made the industry dodgy. It’s good that MPA is taking action,” said one trader.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
