The Port Authority of Rotterdam aims to "improve the public reputation of bunker fuel in Rotterdam" by developing standards that would prohibit the trade and loading of bunker fuel oil containing a list of six "undesirable substances," a port official said.

The list was drawn up by a working group including the port and industry representatives, said Roland van Assche, director of oil storage, refining and shipping at the port, Wednesday.

"We don't want these products in Rotterdam and are not afraid of excluding volumes that contain them," van Assche said.

The Port Authority of Rotterdam hosted representatives of price reporting agencies including Platts, members of the working group responsible for compiling the list -- Anton Spierings of the Netherlands Petroleum Industry Association (VNPI), and Vincent de Vos of the Dutch Organisation for the Energy Industry (NOVE) -- together with Alex de Wilt, bunker trader for OW Global Trading in Rotterdam.

Van Assche said the meeting was to begin dialogue on new trading rules that would restrict the trade of bunker fuel oil containing coal tar, black tar, monomers, polymers, creosote oil and acids, found to be toxic and damaging to ship's engines.

Van Assche and Spiering said oil majors BP, Shell, Total and Litasco -- the trading arm of Lukoil -- were members of the working group and supported the initiative. But no movement had been made yet to implement a prohibition of the substances in these companies' general terms and conditions of bunker fuel trade sales contracts, they added.

The complexity of the residual fuel oil supply-chain made the traceability of material diff cult and would prove a hurdle in convincing major

fuel oil traders to contractually adopt the ban, representatives of the price reporting agencies and de Wilt said.

Adopting such conditions within bunker fuel sale contracts would incur liability on companies found to have material containing any of the substances, despite the difficulty of guaranteeing the absence of these substances in fuel oil and fuel oil blend stock not produced from major refineries.

"These substances are hardly present and it's already common for blenders to avoid these, but polychlorophenols (PCPs) and monochlorophenols (MCBs) [both toxic substances] do find their way into the pool from cutter stocks," de Wilt said.

The vast trade of residual bunker fuel in Rotterdam, the third largest bunker trading hub after Singapore and Fujairah, and the port's role as a trading and blending location for large quantities of Russian material makes it difficult to track and police the source and quality of material.

"The bulk of delivered bunkers in Rotterdam are fine and already comply with these standards...Currently those [bunker suppliers and traders] who aren't so cautious have an advantage, that is wrong. These rules would create a more level playing field," said Vincent de Vos, president of the nautical division of NOVE and managing director of Dutch bunker supplier, OW Bunker.

Public opinion in the Netherlands regarding the industry had deteriorated over the past two decades due to the perception that fuel oil contained waste and contaminants, van Assche told the group.

"Having been in the business for twenty-five years, I've never seen it this bad," said OW Trading's de Wilt. Margins for physical bunker suppliers and traders are pressured by the depressed shipping market and intense competition -- both within Rotterdam and from other European and Asian ports -- leading to less scrupulous blending and delivery practices, he said.

The Port called for the assistance of price reporting agencies in implementing the prohibition within the specification of fuel oil traded basis Rotterdam on Platts and Argus trading platforms, such as the benchmark Platts 3.5% FOB Rotterdam barge Market on Close benchmark assessment process.

Platts typically reflects prevailing industry standards, which currently do not prohibit material containing the listed substances.

Current International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulations and International Standard Organisation (ISO) standards do not cover the six substances, with no upcoming regulation or changes to ISO standards tabled, Spiering said.

"Long term we can combine these rules with IMO and ISO regulations," van Assche said.

However, the Port of Rotterdam said it and local industry was keen to act first to improve both public image and the quality of bunker fuel traded in Rotterdam.

"About 80 percent of the [bunker] business in Rotterdam supports the initiative," van Assche said.

"The difference now is that we are one step ahead," said de Vos.

The Port Authority of Rotterdam will meet with the International Bunkering Industry Association next week to discuss the initiative.