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Vinay Gupta "smta@vroon.nl" FLEET-HK-TECH9 Bunkering Procedure 2011-09-09 19:06

Dear Sir, Good day, In view of many of our vessels not clear with the bunkering and sampling procedures, we had sent the following message to all our vessels that we received from one of the major operators. We believe this would greatly help our staff in maintaining correct practices and avoid unnecessary disputes over bunkers. Trust you will find the above in order. Best Regards Vinay Gupta Fleet Management Ltd
From: Vinay Gupta [mailto:vinay@fleetship.com] Sent: 2011-09-08 19:17 To: Barock; Cala Paguro; MCC Sandigan; MCC Sandiwa; Promise 1; Promise 2; Promise 3; Safe Voyager; Scandinavian Express; 'Scotian Express'; Ten Yoshi Maru; Tenki Maru; Tenmyo Maru; Tenshin Maru Cc: FLEET-HK-TECH9; Sanjay Chandra Subject: Bunkering Procedure

Dear Capt. and Chief Engineer, Good day Please find below a very comprehensive bunkering and sampling procedure as we have received from one of the major operators that we found could be useful for everyone. Please go through the entire procedure and discuss with all concerned. We request you to follow this on every bunkering occasion to safeguard the Owners interest. 1. You are requested to delegate a responsible officer to witness and record either the bunker barge or wharf flow-meter readings prior commencement, during the bunkering and after completion of the bunker supply together with the fuel temperatures or, if no satisfactory and calibrated metering arrangements are available, to witness and record all tank ullages of the bunker supply barge and or shore tanks together with the fuel temperature in each tank. 2. Request from the fuel supplier copies of the tank tables and from the bunker

barge copies of the custom papers indicating the supplied fuel quantities and temperatures to the barge. Should the barge have more bunkers on board when alongside than indicated in the custom papers, request a sound explanation from the barge operator and make an appropriate notation in the bunker documents and in your ship's log book. Advise your ship's agent, bunker surveyor (if present) and charterers accordingly. 3. Ensure/ witness that during the whole bunkering process continuous oil samples are taken at the agreed point of custody transfer (ship's or supply boat bunker manifold ), well stirred after completion of bunkering and filled into four (4) sample bottles, sealed and signed by the supplier and your representative. Two (2) sealed samples are to be retained by the vessel and one (1) sample are for the fuel supplier. The fuel supplier will provide a container of 400 ml for the 4th marpol sample which needs to be labeled with the marpol requirements and to be retained by the vessel for minimum 12 months as of the delivery date. This marpol sample is not for commercial use. Invite the supplier to witness the sample taking if done on the ship's manifold and the pertinent details duly recorded. However under certain circumstances the fuel samples cannot be obtained from the ship's manifold When: * is not safe to do so * is not practical * is in contravention of applicable legislations (isps code etc) The vessel must be fitted with a proper "line sampler" device/flange and the use of a secure cubitainer/container is a must. It is outmost important that during the sample bottle filling, sealing and signing the bottle labels, the sample bottles are never getting out of your view, i.e. never accept any sealed bottles where you have not witnessed the filling and sealing personally. Never allow the supplier's representative to disappear with the sample bottles for sealing etc which is always a good opportunity to swap sample bottles with different contents. Never sign any labels in advance but only when they are ready to be secured / glued to the sampling bottles. The sample bottles should have a note as to the origin of the samples (i.e. Shore tank/ pipeline, bunker barge etc). Document of how the supplying bunker boat is taking samples, which can be vital in showing whether such samples were taken properly. The fuel supplier has to provide a bunker delivery note with following information : * name and imo number of receiving vessel * port of supply * date of commencement of delivery * name, address and telephone number of marine fuel supplier * product name(s) * quantity (metric tons) * density at 15c * sulphur content (% m/m) * a declaration signed and certified by the fuel oil supplier's representative that the fuel supplied is in conformity with regulation 14(1) or (4)(a) and regulation 18(1) of annex vi of marpol 73/78. This compliant declaration is still refused by many fuel suppliers and in these cases just makes a protest note on the bunker delivery note. Also, if you don't receive a marpol sample from the supplier

(400 ml container) take a 4th sample by you and mark it as "marpol sample" with a protest note accordingly. 4. Any discrepancies in ship's soundings, ullages or records of the bunker company's reading or dispute in volume lifted or any reservation as to the quality must be advised to charterers and the ship's agent immediately, as well as reserving the t/c's position on any delivery note that may be presented for signature. When bunkering hot supplied fuels into empty ship's double bottom tanks, especially in cold water-, weather zones, it is very difficult to establish the proper bunker temperatures and proper bunker weights (bunker temperatures in double bottom tanks may drop close to seawater Temperature) and therefore the supplied fuel quantity may be established more precisely using the bunker barge measurements (ullage, sounding of all tanks before and after completion of bunkering) and using the measured fuel temperatures in the barge tanks and certified tank tables. Never allow any air-blowing of the bunker hoses after completion of the bunkering or even during the bunkering operations which is causing a "cappuccino-effect" and may give misleading quantity readings/soundings. It is also a safety hazard. Bunker receipts should be claused "quality unknown - samples taken and sealed". If this clause is not acceptable to supplier's representatives then appropriate notations must be made in the deck- and engine log books. Never pre-sign any supplier documents before the bunker delivery is satisfactorily completed, unless the documents are related to safety- and communication procedures. Record on the bunker delivery receipt any noted abnormalities in the quantity or quality of the delivered bunkers. Issue a "note of protest" in the event of an alleged fraud situation. 5. Vessel must receive the fresh bunkers in empty ship's tanks. This will allow a distinction of what fuel was received in subsequent tank sampling however the ship's staff should be aware that this will only provide an indication of the quality received. The only legal samples are those drawn / sealed and signed in the presence of the supplier's staff and responsible ship's officer. Fuel storage A) do not over-heat the fuel in the adjacent storage tanks around the cargo holds (double bottom tanks) to avoid cargo damages especially to agricultural products. Overheating may accelerates thermal aging of the fuel and can have a negative effect to the stability of the bunker fuel, resulting in sludge formation and problems with the engine injection elements, poor combustion and damages to the engine running gears. Fuel storage-, pumping- and / or transfer temperatures of max. 35-40 centigrades are more than sufficient.

B) maintain the bunker storage temperature at least 5 degrees above the pour point temperature to avoid wax formation. Try to avoid mixing of old and new bunkers of different origins. If mixing can not be avoided, allow only mixing ratios of 80 :20 or below, never allow mixing ratios of 50 : 50 / 60 : 40 unless the compatibility and stability of both fuels have been proven by analyses. Maintain a daily bunker-sounding book (marpol requirement) for all storageand service tanks, indicating correctly the bunker transfers and quantities on board. Maintain your purifying-, filtering- and heating systems / settings in good and proper working order. For older full bowl discharge type fuel purifiers ensure the optimum size of gravity disc for the particular fuel density has been chosen. C) charterers may supply low sulphur fuels and /or gas oils to be able to trade in certain sox emission control areas (seca). These low sulphur fuels need to be kept and handled completely separated from the normal fuels and the vessel needs to burn low sulphur fuels as from the moment of entering the seca's until leaving it again (baltic sea: as from 19. May 2006, north sea & english channel: As from 11. August 2007). Depending on the ship's fuel system and fuel handling procedures on board the fuel change over to low sulphur fuels need to be effected days ahead, all properly documented in the engine log books as per marpol requirements. Many thanks for your kind attention. Best Regards Vinay Gupta Fleet Management Ltd