BunkerTrace Pilot Successfully Completed

The first pilot of BunkerTrace, the system that combines synthetic DNA tracers and blockchain to manage risk for marine fuels by creating a transparent chain of custody, was successfully completed yesterday.

The Boskalis-owned dredger, Prins der Nederlanden was bunkered with 900 cubic meters (CBM) of ISO 8217:2010 compliant fuel supplied by Minerva with a unique tracer added.

The crew then successfully detected this mark with an on-board analysis case that took less than a minute, with the result of the test logged in a blockchain-based transaction record.

“This trial demonstrated the readiness of the BunkerTrace system to transform IMO 2020 bunker fuel compliance and increase transparency and traceability in the marine fuels supply chain,” said BunkerTrace in its release.

“By adding markers to fuel at every stage of the supply chain and recording each transaction in a blockchain-based system, BunkerTrace creates an immutable audit trail that follows the fuel, and any changes made to it, recording all activities and sign offs by actors transacting the fuel.”

Following the trial, Marc Johnson, CEO BunkerTrace, said: “After last year’s ‘epidemic’ of bad bunker fuel, it’s unsurprising that owners, insurers and operators are worried about the quality of fuel available as shipping scrambles for available product post-2020 that will see more fragmentation in fuel supplies as more fuel is blended to meet compliance.”

The test took under two minutes and was able to detect the presence of the mark at two parts per billion in the fuel. Samples of fuel were collected before and after the tracer was added for further analysis.