World Bunkering > News > Winter 2010 > Editor's Letter

David Hughes"

This has been a hectic quarter at all levels and the issue is a packed one. Of course for IBIA the highlight was the successful Annual Convention held in Connecticut. World Bunkering’s deputy editor Lucy Budd attended and reports on what went on, both in the conference hall and in the networking that is such a feature of these gatherings.

And talking of gatherings, over 1,000 delegates were at the Sentosa Resorts World venue for this year’s Sibcon. I was there and was struck by the sheer number of speakers the organisers had attracted in from overseas.

There was plenty to talk about at both events, especially on the topic of greenhouse gases following the failure of MEPC to agree on market-based measures, and this is reflected in our Environment News pages this week and in the reviews for both events.

It is important that IBIA members are aware of who the Association’s Board members are and what they do for the Assocation, so in this issue our Interview is with the whole of the IBIA Board. As ever, this issue is a mix of technical and geographical features, so it is appropriate we start with blending, and IBIA’s moves towards providing guidelines in this area. Staying very much on the technical side, we also take a look at additives and what role they can play in, especially, reducing fuel consumption.

Our feature on barge design, which appears in the Maldives report, is a break from recent such reports in that it covers a very small vessel. On average, barges may be getting bigger but we still need the little ones to fuel the thousands of smaller vessels that also need bunkers, often in small, out of the way places.

The Africa report is largely an optimistic one with the story from West Africa being of well run and competitive offshore bunkering. In fact the South African suppliers now report that West Africa is very much a competitor to them. And East Africa is starting to develop its bunkering capabilities too.

LNG is increasingly in focus as a fuel for the future, and in our Scandinavia feature, we look at moves to establish an infrastructure for LNG bunkering in the region. The Maldives evoke pictures of a tropical idyll but times are, as we report, quite tough for suppliers there right now as the economic downturn hits the country’s heavily tourist-dependent economy.

Oh yes, one final thing. The Spring 2011 issue will include a major feature on Quantity, focusing on mass flow meters. As a warm-up to that, we are including a personal view on metering from Jon Watson. It is controversial, but I hope it will stir people up to respond, either with a letter to the editor or perhaps an editorial contribution to the Quantity feature.

So together with our regular slots, I hope there will be plenty of interest in the Winter issue. As ever, may I remind everybody that bunkers-related news and bunker prices are posted on a daily basis on our free-access website www.worldbunkering.com.

David Hughes