MPA Takes Bunkering Licences from Two Companies

Vermont UM Bunkering Two bunkering companies have been denied operations as bunker suppliers and bunker craft operators in the Port of Singapore after their licences were revoked, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said. Namely, the MPA cancelled the bunker craft operator licence belonging to Singapore-based company Seaquest Tanker Pte Ltd, while it revoked the bunker supplier and bunker craft operator licences of its compatriot Vermont UM Bunkering Pte Ltd, with effect from April 26 and 27, 2016. MPA said that the licences were annulled due to a breach in the terms and conditions of their bunker supplier and bunker craft operator licences. The authority conducted investigations into the two companies in 2015 and 2016, respectively, revealing discrepancies and wrongful declarations in the records kept on board their bunker tankers. There were also separate incidences of transfers of bunkers between bunker tankers that were conducted without MPA’s approval, the port authority said.