---

The Pink Diamond has been re-added to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) list of licensed bunker tankers with approved mass flow meter (MFM) technology, the MPA confirmed in an update on 26th January.

As reported by Bunker Index earlier this month, the Pink Diamond was one of four vessels that did not appear in the MPA's list - published on 6th January - of licensed bunker vessels with approved MFMs, having previously been given the green light to carry out MFM bunkering on 11th March 2016.

As a result, it meant that the total number of MFM-equipped bunker tankers with 'SB' licenses actually fell to 132 in early January, down from 135 on 28th December.

The readdition of the Pink Diamond to the list of licensed tankers approved for MFM bunkering - understood to be the result of a change of ownership between the end of December and early January, brings the total number to 133, up one since the MPA's last update on 6th January.

The number of licensed bunker tankers in Singapore has also risen by one - to 207 - during the same three-week period.

Three other vessels already approved for MFM bunkering - Giselle (approved 31st December 2014), Poseidon (approved 24th November 2015) and JW Jewel (approved 9th July 2015) - are also understood to be in the process of changing ownership before their licenses are reinstated. This would then bring the number of licensed MFM tankers in line with the number of vessels that have already been approved for MFM bunkering - 136.

As mentioned earlier this month, the Sea Swift was the first vessel of 2017 to be approved for MFM bunkering in Singapore - and remains the only one to be approved in January so far. Built in 2003, the oil products tanker is operated by bunker supplier Hong Lam Marine; it has a gross tonnage (grt) of 2,673 tons and a deadweight tonnage (dwt) of 4,998 tons.

Below is a month-by-month breakdown of the number of vessels that have gained MFM approval since January 2016.

Jan 2016 - 2
Feb 2016 - 3
Mar 2016 - 5
Apr 2016 - 7
May 2016 - 3
Jun 2016 - 12
Jul 2016 - 7
Aug 2016 - 5
Sep 2016 - 8
Oct 2016 - 9
Nov 2016 - 8
Dec 2016 - 11
Jan 2017 - 1

Image: The Singapore-flagged Pink Diamond.