With marine bunkers accounting for as much as 40 percent of a vessel's total running costs, ship operators naturally want to optimise their fuel purchases, often going for the lowest price available.

But low bunker prices may not necessarily translate into value for money as the fuel can contain abrasive materials and other contaminants, or have less energy content. On the other hand, higher priced bunkers do not always correlate with better quality.

To help ship operators make informed decisions on bunker purchasing, leading marine fuel management company DNV Petroleum Services is introducing a subscription-based Internet service offering real-time updates of worldwide bunker quality.

Called FuelWise, this soon-to-be-launched product taps into the DNVPS global bunker testing catchments to bring shipowners and fuel buyers the latest quality analysis of fuels from virtually any bunkering port.

FuelWise presents data in a reader-friendly format covering all the parameters listed in ISO 8217: 1996. It also gives the 'Specific Energy Content' of each fuel delivery and calculates the amount of energy per dollar of fuel, which the user can then compare among the featured suppliers for the best relative value.

With such powerful information at their fingertips, shipowners can effectively reduce the risk and uncertainties in bunker procurement, especially if buying decisions involve unfamiliar suppliers or bunkering ports.

FuelWise, which can also be useful as a tool to monitor the quality consistency of fuel, is ideal for:

• Ship charterers
• Physical fuel suppliers
• Fuel brokers and traders
• Ship owners
• Ship managers
• Port authorities.
  
  For a free trial and more information about FuelWise, contact: singapore@dnvps.com

Date: 2004-06-02