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The North of England P&I Club has published a third edition of its loss-prevention guide, Bunker Claims Prevention, which aims to help shipowners avoid potentially large losses arising from loading unsuitable or insufficient marine fuel oil. The new edition reflects recent changes to international marine fuel specifications introduced in ISO 8217:2010.

Commenting on the new edition, Head of loss prevention, Tony Baker said, "The guide tackles bunker quality and quantity issues at source by giving those involved in the purchase and use of fuel oils a thorough understanding of the problems that may be encountered. It is designed to assist all those who come across bunker quality and quantity disputes in their working day and aims to give a basic understanding of the technical and legal problems involved."

Written by North of England P&I Club director Mike Salthouse, manager Richard Bracken and bunker expert Chris Fisher, the third edition reflects the many changes introduced in the International Organization for Standardization standard ISO 8217:2010 Petroleum products - Fuels (class F) - Specifications for marine fuels.

"First published in 1987, ISO 8217 was revised in 1996 and 2005, the latter version becoming widely used and accepted in the shipping industry," said Baker. "However, it is important that the industry universally adopts the new standard to avoid confusion. Furthermore, the standard will continue to be updated every few years and it is vital to obtain and use the latest version at all times."

ISO 8217:2010 introduced revised categories for the four distillate fuel grades and increased the number of residual fuel oil grades from 10 to 11. It also introduced further requirements relating to the hydrogen sulphide concentration of all fuel oil types, oxidation stability and lubricity of distillate fuel oils, and ignition characteristics and sodium concentration of residual fuel oils.

The guide also explains the latest revisions to and implications of the IMO International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) annex VI on preventing air pollution. Under MARPOL all fuel oil suppliers must document the sulphur content of fuel supplied, which from January 2012 must be no more than 3.5% m/m.

The third edition of Bunker Claims Prevention, ISBN 978-0-9558257-7-4, has been distributed to all North's 375 members and over 3500 mutually entered ships. It is also available to non-members priced £30 from Anchorage Press in London at www.anchoragepress.co.uk.