Steve Bee – VPS Group Marketing & Strategic Projects Director

If you wish to be in control of a vessel’s operational and commercial position, plus the quality of fuel delivered to your ship, then this will never be achieved if you don’t ensure a truly representative fuel is taken during the fuel delivery process. 

Any fuel test is only as good as the sample you take. A correctly operated drip-sampler captures the delivery from start to finish, giving you a representative sample on which you can make confident operational and commercial decisions.

The drip-sampler provides a vessel with a representative sample of the marine fuel actually delivered during bunkering. This may sound simple, but it is fundamental, because decisions on fuel quality, machinery protection and any subsequent dispute, are only as reliable as the sample sent to the laboratory.

Today, the drip-sampler, fitted at the point of fuel custody transfer, which ideally should be at vessel’s manifold, is the most common and reliable means to obtaining a representative sample of the fuel delivered.

The Key Value of a Drip-Sampler

1. Representative of the whole delivery: The drip-sampler collects fuel progressively throughout the entire delivery period.
2. Provides confidence in laboratory results: Even the best laboratory analysis cannot compensate for an unrepresentative sample. Analytical results have little value if the original sampling procedure is incorrect.
3. Simple and relatively inexpensive: A manual drip-sampler provides an economical way of obtaining a representative sample.
4. The Drip-sampler can closely approximate flow-proportional sampling: A manual drip-sampler is time-proportional rather than flow-proportional. However, when correctly controlled it can be equivalent to the more expensive, flow-proportional systems.
5. Supports identification of off-specification or problematic fuel: The quality of the sample provides additional confidence in the test results and the technical-advisory information provided by the testing laboratory.
6. Provides a common sample for all involved stakeholders: Via the drip-sampling process, at least four key samples should be harvested from a single fuel delivery. All parties can then be confident that the sample subsequently tested is the one that was collected during the bunkering process.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in its July 2024 Sampling Guidelines, MSC-MEPC.2/Circ.18, states that the primary objective is to establish an agreed method of obtaining a representative sample of the fuel oil delivered. This guideline also links the delivered sample directly to MARPOL Annex VI compliance and SOLAS flash point provisions. This gives the drip-sampler an important value proposition: It is not simply about obtaining some fuel for laboratory analysis. The objective is to obtain fuel that represents the actual delivery.

A leading P&I Club describes bunker samples as a “vital piece of evidence” in bunker quality disputes. It states, “parties may agree to jointly test a sample to determine whether the fuel supplied was on-specification and that even without such an agreement, bunker samples can provide relevant evidence in resolving dispute.”

So, the vessel isn’t merely taking a sample. It is creating independent evidence of the fuel it actually received.

The drip-sampler therefore offers far more than just  means of obtaining a representative sample. A drip-sampler will support:

1. Knowing what fuel the vessel received
2. Provide further trust in the laboratory test results and subsequent fuel management advice
3. Protection of the vessel operations
4. Protect the vessel’s commercial position
5. Achieve the above to an economic level

Industry insight: VPS, pioneered commercial marine fuel quality testing in 1981, which included the design and development of its first drip-sampler. This was then followed by the design of a dedicated distillate sampler to overcome the sampling challenges associated with lower-viscosity marine gas oils.

Whether for a vessel new build, or replacement, drip-samplers can be ordered directly from VPS from a 2”to16” size, covering flange outer diameters of 155mm-604.9mm.

In summary, the drip-sampler is a relatively simple but important piece of equipment which sits at the beginning of a chain of decisions potentially involving fuel acceptance, laboratory testing, engine operation, regulatory compliance and commercial disputes.

For further information on fuel sampling equipment and accurate sampling procedures, plus ordering a drip sampler, please contact your local VPS Sales Manager or Customer Support Advisor. Alternatively contact sales@vpsveritas.com