This inside abstract relies on a report issued by the Hong Kong Marine Division (Info Be aware No. 34/2025). It addresses an oil spill that occurred throughout a bunkering operation involving a Marshall Islands-registered vessel at a container terminal in Hong Kong.
What Occurred
A vessel berthed at a Hong Kong container terminal for cargo dealing with and was scheduled to obtain bunker gasoline from a domestically licensed oil provider. The vessel’s port-side gasoline oil tank (No. 1), with a most capability of 219.94 cubic metres, was chosen for the operation, with 180 metric tons of gasoline requested. Nevertheless, the gasoline provider, unaware of the revised quantity, proceeded to ship 250 metric tons — as per a earlier settlement.
Roughly two hours into the operation, a cargo officer from the supplying firm boarded the vessel to finalize documentation and found the chief engineer was not conscious of the supply amount. Bunkering was suspended instantly. By that point, roughly 6,900 litres of gasoline had overflowed onto the vessel’s deck and into the ocean, inflicting marine air pollution and contaminating close by vessels and terminal buildings.
Why It Occurred
The investigation recognized the next contributing components:
Failure by the crew to confirm the bunkering amount earlier than beginning operations.
Insufficient on-site monitoring of the gasoline tank throughout bunkering.
Ineffective communication amongst all events concerned within the operation.
Poor coaching for crew members in shipboard bunkering procedures.
Classes Discovered
To forestall related incidents:
Crews should strictly observe bunkering procedures, together with pre-delivery verification of amount and steady on-site monitoring throughout switch.
All events concerned in bunkering should keep clear and efficient communication all through the method.
Vessel operators should guarantee all crew members obtain thorough and efficient coaching on bunkering operations.
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Supply: Hong Kong Marine Division
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