Oil fuel and lube oil testing proves its worth (let the buyer beware) advises chemical analysis specialist companies Lintec and Intertek, telling a few days ago of their joining hands to provide a service to help guard ship operators world-wide against the perils of using off-specification oils. A case study illustrates their point. The entire fleet of a Hamburg-based shipowner was placed on Lintec’s chemical screening programme. On one of the ships, on long-term charter, a sample fuel analysis revealed that bunker fuel containing DCPD (Dicyclopentadiene) and Styrene had been taken on board; the charterer being duly informed of the inherent risks to the ship’s engine that might arise from this bunker stem. Soon, operational difficulties, including blocked oil filters, were reported to the extent that the fuel had to be pumped out and replaced at the next port of call. Further lab analysis was done to determine the exact levels of contamination, with results that persuaded ... [More]