Singapore revokes bunker licences of two suppliers

Singapore revokes bunker licences of two suppliers

SINGAPORE - Singapore authorities have revoked the bunker supplier and bunker craft operator licences of Hong Fatt Oil Trading and Tankoil Marine Services following investigations on the two firms.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has revoked the licences of the two companies on Feb. 9 with the companies no longer allowed to operate as bunker suppliers and bunker craft operators in the port of Singapore, MPA said in a statement on Thursday.

"MPA's separate investigations into the two companies revealed discrepancies and wrongful declarations in the records kept on board their bunker tankers," MPA said. "There were also incidences of transfers of bunkers between bunker tankers that were done without MPA's approval."

Their licences were revoked as a result of breaching the terms and conditions in their licences, the authority said.

Tankoil and Hong Fatt Oil Trading were not immediately available for comment.

Tankoil Marine Services was given an unrecoverable credit line estimated at between US$120 million (S$163.23 million) and US$130 million by OW Bunker's Singapore-based subsidiary Dynamic Oil Trading, which was not submitted to the board of OW Bunker for approval, the company's chairman had said last year.

OW Bunker, once the leading supplier of the marine fuel oil with a 7 per cent market share, filed for bankruptcy in Denmark in November after revealing losses of at least US$125 million at Dynamic Oil Trading.

Dynamic Oil sold about 80,000 tonnes a month of bunker fuel to Tankoil every month, trade sources estimated.

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