Bunkering is the supplying of

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

for use by

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s ( such fuel is referred to as bunker), including the logistics of loading and distributing the fuel among available shipboard tanks. A person dealing in trade of bunker (fuel) is called a bunker trader. The term bunkering originated in the days of

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s, when

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

was stored in bunkers. Nowadays, the term bunker is generally applied to the

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

products stored in tanks, and bunkering to the practice and business of refueling ships. Bunkering operations take place at seaports and include the storage and provision of the bunker (ship fuels) to vessels. The

Port of Singapore The Port of Singapore is the collection of facilities and container terminal, terminals that conduct maritime trade and handle Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world, since 2015. Currently ...

is currently the largest bunkering port in the world. In 2023, Singapore recorded bunker fuel sales volume totaling 51,824,000 tonnes, setting a new industry standard. The Island of Malta is known to host bunkering, in six locations including Hurd's bank. In 2015 the Malta-Sicily Channel was noted as "one of the most important oil transit routes in the world," and in 2011, around eight vessels per day bunkered in Maltese waters.

Two types of bunkering

The two most common types of bunkering procedure at sea are "ship to ship bunkering" (STSB), in which one ship acts as a terminal, while the other moors. The second type is "stern line bunkering" (SLB), which is the easiest method of transferring oil but can be risky during bad weather.

Bunkering in maritime law

In many maritime contracts, such as charter parties, contracts for carriage of goods by sea, and marine insurance policies, the

ship-owner A shipowner, ship owner or ship-owner is the owner of a ship. They can be merchant vessels involved in the sea transport, shipping industry or non commercially owned. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and expl ...

or ship operator is required to ensure that the ship is

seaworthy Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea sta ...

. Seaworthiness requires not only that the ship be sound and properly crewed, but also that it be fully fuelled (or "bunkered") at the start of the voyage. If the ship operator wishes to bunker en route, this must be provided for in a written agreement, or the interruption of the voyage may be deemed to be deviation (a serious

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

). If the vessel runs out of fuel in mid-ocean, this also constitutes serious breach, allowing the insurer to cancel a policy and allowing a consignee to make a cargo claim. It may also lead to a salvage operation. The International Maritime Organisation is an agency of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

responsible for the prevention of

marine pollution Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial waste, industrial, agricultural pollution, agricultural, and municipal solid waste, residential waste; particle (ecology), particles; noise; excess carbon dioxi ...

by ships. On 1 January 2020, the agency began enforcing the IMO 2020 regulation of MARPOL Annex VI to minimise bunkering's environmental impact.

References

{{reflist Storage tanks Fuel containers