Risk of Personnel Transfer during Bunker Survey

This innovation opportunity is by the Shipping Association of Singapore.

Bunker survey forms a critical part of preventing bunker delivery losses. Bunker surveyors are engaged independently to determine bunker quantity, quality and witness the delivery of the bunker. Currently, bunker surveyors must climb up or down a 10 metres height to transfer themselves to the ship to perform the following duties –

Check for the quantity of the bunker by conducting bunker tank soundings of the receiving ship. Bunker sounding is the act of checking the level of the fluid in a tank before and after bunkering to confirm that the right quantity of bunker has been transferred.
Collect bunker samples for lab testing to check for the quality of the bunker
Witness the bunker barge crew who are delivering the bunker through a mass flow meter to prevent any foul play
Climbing up or down a 10 metres height is highly risky especially in bad weather conditions or sea state and could result in accidents and loss of life. The Cargo officer of the bunker tanker is also at risk, as he also boards the vessel for paper works and sample witnessing.

In some newer ships, tank gauging sensors were installed to measure the quantity of the bunker. However there are usually calibration issues with the sensors that result in reading errors. To check for the quality of the bunker, drones are recently used to collect samples for lab testing but limitations such as bad weather impede the activity of the drones.

To mitigate the need to go onboard a ship at great height, SSA is seeking video analytics solutions to check for the quantity of the bunker and replace in-person witnesses for bunker delivery. SSA is also looking for an innovative approach to check for the quality of the bunker.