Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government entity in charge of regulating and supervising all aspects of the maritime sector in Dubai, hosted the first of three UAE Bunker Standard workshops recently in support of the UAE Initiative to develop a 21st century bunker standard.

The goal of the negotiated regulation is to incorporate industry best practices and standards to benefit the entire marine industry.

The Initiative is a joint working effort of the Ministry of Environment and Water, NTA, and the Emirate's local Marine Regulatory Authorities. Participants included Emirate's Marine Regulatory representatives; bunker suppliers, the UAE Shipping Association, ship-owners, operators, charterers, bunker craft operators, bunker testing labs and bunker surveyors.

DMCA is working closely with these partners to help ensure that the new standard is designed in such a manner that the UAE will continue to lead the industry through active engagement, practical solutions, and responsible regulations and policies.

The UAE, is the world's second largest bunkering port with an estimated amount of 12 million metric tons lifted annually. The Initiative has several objectives that are aligned with the IMO's Marpol requirements including meeting the 3.5% sulfur content for bunkers starting from 1 Jan 2012.

Other objectives include creating a concise chain of custody control procedures that are fair to all parties; to ensure the highest quality of bunker fuel is available for delivery; that quality fuel is assigned a value rating based upon parameters designed to ensure the least amount of CO2 production per quantity of fuel consumed per nautical mile traveled; ensuring that the quantity delivered is consistently accurate; that the bunkers are delivered safely and in an environmentally sustainable manner.
 
 
Source: logisticsweek