Bunker Survey & Surveyor

What is Bunker Survey ?

Survey is a means to view and examine the condition of an object. Bunker Survey is an examination of the ship's fuel to ascertain its total on board quantity. it can be ROB quantity, ROB is Remaining On Board of fuel oils like MGO (marine gas oil) or MFO (Marine Fuel Oil) or LSFO (low sulphur fuel oil) or HSFO (high sulfur fuel oil) or LSMDO (low sulfur marine diesel oil). Bunker Survey is carried out mostly by visual observation, facts finding, about the general data and idea, by measurements, technicals matters, etc. and, if needed, provide recommendation. Bunker survey is carried out to measure and ascertain the quantity of Bunker on board at the specific time. This survey is produced the report that states the amount of bunker, usually Fuel Oil (FO) and Diesel Oil (DO), and sometimes Lubricating Oil (LO) is included. Bunker Surveyor is the person who hold a valid bunker surveyor license issued by the implementing authority. Surveyor is the person who conduct the survey, for doing the job, the person is expected to be independent and backed up by sufficient professionalism.

What is Purpose of Bunker Survey ?

The purpose of Bunker Survey is to establish the quantity of bunker (its can be OBQ (on board quantity) or ROB (remaining on board) quantity) at time of survey present.

Need of Bunker Survey

In case of below condition bunker survey is needed to be carried out:

1. Ship delivery or vessel redelivery, the reason is to ascertain the quantity of bunker that must be returned by Charterer to the Owner at the end of the charter party.
2. Being "off-hired" when a ship is still under charter, the reason is to ascertain the consumed bunker during "off-hire time" that falls under Owner's responsibility.
3. Supplying bunker, either ship to ship or shore to ship, the reason is to prevent "cheating" on the supplied quantity.
4. Certain purposes, the reason is for Adjusting log book entry "on the spot checking" of actual quantity onboard (OBQ/ROB)

Bunker Survey, also know as Bunker Delivery Survey, Bunker Quantity Survey (BQS) or Bunker Stem Survey forms a critical part of preventing bunker delivery losses.

Bunker surveyors are mainly employed to independently check and determine the barge delivered quantity and the vessel received quantity. These two quantities should be within acceptable tolerance (usually 0.5% of received quantity) and if not, the surveyor must investigate the cause of the discrepancy.

The scope of a bunker surveyor’s work during his attendance, in addition to the pre and post transfer meeting and documentation requires to:

• Conduct a full initial gauging of all the vessel’s tanks and record the actual initial quantity of bunkers on board the vessel.
• Compare the actual figures with the vessel’s declared figures and if a discrepancy is noted, re-gauge the ship’s tanks.
• Conduct a full initial gauging of all the barge tanks and record the actual initial quantity of bunker fuel on the barge.
• Ensure that the sampling equipment is set up properly to draw the bunker drip samples from the manifold during the bunkering.
• Check that standard safety procedures for bunker transfer are complied with.
• Monitor the ship’s bunker tanks regularly during the bunkering for any signs of cappuccino bunkers or entrapped air.
• Conduct a thorough final gauging of all the barge tanks and record the actual quantity of bunker fuel remaining on the barge.
• Conduct a thorough final gauging of all the vessel’s tanks and record the actual quantity of bunkers onboard after completion of bunkering.
• Establish the Barge delivered quantity and the vessel received quantity.

Appointing the right surveyor:

Since the bunker surveyor plays an important role in the bunker delivery process for containing bunker fuel losses, it is important to ensure that the right surveyor is appointed. There have been numerous cases where bunker surveyors, along with both, barge and ship’s personnel, have been found involved in malpractices. Typically, one should avoid appointing a one-man company or a small outfit with 3 to 4 of surveyors. You may save up to $200 in survey fees but unless a thorough due diligence has been carried out, the probability of losing a lot more in terms of bunker quantity is quite high.

Even when appointing a medium sized or one of the bigger surveying company is employed, the following points must be checked:

Competence of the surveyors: In some places like Singapore, only Licensed bunker surveyors are permitted to attend. In other places, the back ground and bunker survey experience of the surveyors should be checked.

Additional training and upgrading: Does the company conduct additional training (beyond the normal licensing or on the job exposure). Some companies focus on continuously upgrading their surveyors’ proficiency through in-house training programs focused on sharing knowledge, recent experiences and customer feedbacks.

Deterrents against malpractice: It can be tempting for surveyors to indulge in malpractices when large sums are at stake. Hence it becomes crucial for the company to enforce very strong and strict deterrents to ensure its surveyors integrity that curbs them succumbing to temptations.

Monitoring the surveyors: Some companies have a procedure of unannounced spot check for auditing their surveyors during a bunker survey. This can be evidenced from their recent surveyor audit checklist.

How many bunker surveyors has the company employed? Are they full time employees or outsourced: Many big companies employ a few full time surveyors and rely on the services of outsourced surveyors for bulk of their appointments. These outsourced surveyors are mainly from the smaller 1 to 4 men survey companies. The importance of using only in-house full time employed surveyors cannot be stressed more as only then can the surveying company maintain a strict control on their work procedures, proficiency and ethics through additional training, close monitoring and deterrents against malpractices.

Experienced and well-equipped

The attending surveyor has to be experienced, well-trained and adequately equipped with professional and calibrated equipment, including a gauging tape and an electronic thermometer, water and oil indicating paste, a flash-light, sufficient seals, sample bottles, papers and a multi-gas detector for safety.

Apart from carrying out Bunker Quantity Survey (BQS) for the fuel quantities and grade(s) that will be bunkered, the surveyor will also advise and help the chief engineer with any safety checklist, custom papers and papers required by the supplier, such as bunker requisition and sample labels.

Proper measurements

After all relevant papers have been filled out and signed, the surveyor will need to focus on all the measurements. He starts with a thorough measurement of all the vessel’s nominated and non-nominated tanks including settling, services and overflow tanks and any tank space(s) related to the bunker receiving system.

At the same time he will also take temperatures from all tanks, unless access to a particular tank is not possible, in which case the temperature indication on the vessel’s computer or tank has to be taken. On the bunker tanker the surveyor together with a crew member and a representative from the bunker tanker will measure all nominated and non-nominated bunker tanks and take temperatures from each tank.

On both the vessel and bunker tanker, water indicating paste will have to be used for free water detection for distillates fuels unless local regulations require this for all grades.

Through proper, accurate measurements, the surveyor plays an important role in preventing the manipulation of bunker quantity.

Safety Checks

The surveyor, often seen by the chief engineer as a valued helper, will also advise whether the bunker tanker is securely moored so that safe access can be provided from the vessel to the bunker tanker and vice versa, either by lowering a pilot ladder or by gangway. In some cases, a safety basket can also be used. The surveyor will check whether the hoses are in a good condition and whether they are well supported in accordance with relevant international standards, and whether the bunker tanker hose is safely connected with enough bolts.

As the bridge in effective communication between the bunker tanker and the vessel, the surveyor may even enable immediate shutdown of bunkering as soon as a problem or danger is detected.

Even when a MFM is used, the surveyor’s role is critical because the vessel may be short-handed, and the crew overworked and lacking in knowledge of the flow meter technology. As such, they will not be able to monitor or handle a MFM delivery correctly.

Sample Collection & Documentation

The surveyor is also responsible for taking representative samples. The objective of the sampling is to get all parties to agree on one common representative sample taken by drip method, preferably at the vessel’s manifold (point of custody transfer) provided a proper sampling device is available.

This sample has to be collected and witnessed during the entire bunker operation and should be properly mixed and poured into the bottles when the bunker operation is finished. The bottles have to be labelled, sealed and distributed to all parties concerned. This representative sample will be very important evidence in the event of a bunker dispute. The surveyor also provides an independent third party verification and protection for customers in legal matters.

After the bunker operation is completed the surveyor will again check all tanks on both the bunker tanker and the vessel. When all is in order the supplier’s Bunker Delivery Note (BDN) will be signed and the relevant papers distributed to all parties.

Reliable, real-time data

With a proper survey conducted by the surveyor, a ship owner or operator will have accurate, real-time data and can take prompt action, if required. At the same time, the surveyor can also help ensure compliance with port regulations on bunkering.

Stringent Code of Practice

To ensure strict quality control, audits are regularly carried out by supervisors to find out whether the surveyors are adhering to procedures, using the right equipment and also if the vessel’s crew is “happy” or satisfied with the service provided by the attending surveyor. This sets out the best practice for documentation, equipment requirements and verification of procedures during a bunker operation.

Since bunkers are sold by weight but delivered in volume, the presence of a professional bunker surveyor is needed to ensure that the correct quantity is delivered. A experienced surveyor can prevent the supplier from employing “tricks-of-the-trade” to cheat buyers because an investigative remaining-on-board survey entails finding hidden bunkers as well as the investigation of shortages or alleged “cappuccino” during bunkering operations.

The surveyor will also offer a helping hand with inconsistencies or errors on the BDN and advise the vessel’s staff accordingly and assist in quantity dispute resolution.

Survey Tools required for Bunker Surveyor

• Notes Book.
• Sounding Tape
• Thermometer
• Density Meter for Oil (0.750 -1.000)
• Oil and Water Paste
• Petroleum ASTM Table 54B (for Product Oil) and Table 56
• Google and Glove
• Flashlight
• Sampling Can
• Bottle or Can for Sampling (if required taken samples).

Role of Bunker Surveyor:

The bunker surveyor shall be impartial and free of conflict of interest in the performance of their professional duties.

They shall be independent when providing such professional service and shall not be influenced by any third party before, during and after the bunkering operations.

They shall report to the implementing authority (where required) on any noncompliance, any irregularities in the bunkering operations or any impediments to the application of this standard.

The Bunker surveyor shall inspect,measure, sample, test, examine, investigate and report as required on the bunkering operations and condition of bunkering by Mass Flow Meter.