Business

MPA: Processing of bunker licenses may resume by H1 2018

Differences between license termination of Panoil Petroleum and Universal Energy explained by Assistant Director, Bunker Services Department.

Published

9 years ago

December 1, 2017

Admin

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) may be open to processing bunkering licenses by the first half of 2018, suggests its Assistant Director, Bunker Services Department.

‘We have not been issuing any new licenses recently, except for one specific to gasoil, because we want to understand the impact of the mass flowmeter (MFM) on the market first,’ says Md Elfian Harun at IBIA Convention 2017.

‘We are doing a review of the application criteria to make our licensing regime more robust and most likely by the first half of next year [2018] we may start processing applications again.’

Harun, meanwhile, explained the differences between the license termination of Panoil Petroleum and Universal Energy. Panoil Petroleum got its license revoked, while Universal Energy’s license was not renewed.

‘Most bunker license here [in Singapore] is valid for a year so when the MPA revoke a license this means we will come in the middle of your licensing period and say: Stop we will not allow you to complete your license until the end of your term.’

According to Harun, Panoil Petroleum was discovered making modifications to the pipelines on several of its barges; these applications were made after the MFM (between the meter to the vessel manifold) so the MFM system is not able to detect the oil being siphoned out.

‘So that is one of the area where we have strengthened and we advised surveyors on how to prevent such occurrences in the future. We are also making sure to cover such loopholes and provide possible solutions and improve TR 48:2015 to tighten this gap,’ he notes.

Under the bunker licensing accreditation scheme, a supplier is subject to demerit points should they not comply to the bunkering procedures of SS: 600 and TR 48:2017.

‘Universal Energy was involved in a number of deliveries where they didn’t comply with bunkering procedures and all the demerit points chalked up to a point where MPA decided not to renew its license when it was up for renewal,’ says Harun.

To recap, MPA revoked the bunker craft operator licence of Panoil Petroleum in August; it also decided not to renew the bunker supplier licences of Panoil Petroleum and Universal Energy; the latest is the termination of Transocean Oil’s bunker supplier and bunker craft operator licences in November.

This means three, out of Singapore’s top ten bunker suppliers by volume, had licences removed in 2017. The Singapore market officially started MFM bunkering operations for fuel oil this year.

Image credit: Freeimages.com/Krisztian Hoffer

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Published

17 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July).

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions.

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Published

18 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Published

18 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Admin

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post.

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024.

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026