Bunker Survey

Quantity determination and representative sampling at bunkering

Normative anchor: ISO 8217 sampling practice · Charter party terms
Answers to: Operations & Commercial Director
Charging unit: Attendance
Primary output: Attendance report + bunker sample report

Attendance throughout the bunkering, determining quantity from the vessel's own tables and taking a representative sample sealed in the presence of both parties. The dispute this scope prevents is not technical — it is commercial, and it is decided by whether a sealed sample and a signed attendance record exist.

In scope

Attendance throughout the bunkering operation.
Tank soundings or ullages before and after, with temperature and density, from the vessel's calibration tables.
Quantity determination and reconciliation against the Bunker Delivery Note.
Representative sampling at the agreed points, sealed in the presence of both parties, with the seal numbers recorded.
Photographic record of the sampling points and of the seals.
Letter of protest issued where the figures do not reconcile.

Not in scope

Laboratory analysis of the samples. The sealed set is handed over for the laboratory the parties choose.
Arbitration, or any determination of contractual liability for a shortfall.
Any opinion on the fuel's fitness for the engine.

Declared so the conversation happens before the campaign, not in the middle of it.

Deliverables

What you receive

Attendance Report covering the operation from start to completion.
Bunker Sample Report with the sampling points and seal numbers.
Sealed sample set handed over against signature.
Photographic record of the seals and sampling points.
Letter of protest, where the figures do not reconcile.

Scoping

What drives the effort

These move the size of the campaign. None of them moves the standard it is measured against.

Quantity
Number of tanks
Number of sampling points
Port and waiting time

These drive effort, not price. Pricing is quoted after the specification call, together with the documents we will need from you.

Related scopes

What usually goes with it

Condition Survey

The vessel's condition on a stated date, recorded by a party with no interest in the answer.

Pre-Purchase Inspection

What the vessel actually is, before the money moves.

RightShip Preparation

What the RightShip inspector will raise — before they raise it.

Next step

Bunker Survey — let's scope it against your vessel.

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