TFG Marine endorses mandatory use of mass flow meters

Global bunker supplier TFG Marine has expressed support for the mandatory use of mass flow meters (MFMs) in Ports of Antwerp-Bruges and Rotterdam from 2026, calling it a "step in the right direction".

PHOTO: Shipping containers being moved in the APM Terminal in the Port of Rotterdam. Getty Images

Earlier this month, the port authorities of Antwerp-Bruges and Rotterdam announced that it will be mandatory for bunker vessels to use a certified MFM system that measures the exact amount of fuel they deliver to seagoing vessels from 1 January 2026.

This decision "should bring operations and processes there closer to the well tried, tested and successful model employed by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)," TFG Marine says.

A mass flow meter is an instrument that measures the mass flow rate of a fluid passing through a tube.

“Our support to make mass flow meters mandatory to stamp out malpractice, improve efficiencies, and help our industry get a more accurate handle on data, is nothing new,” the company adds.

TFG Marine has been advocating for the use of this technology in bunker operations since 2020 and has introduced MFMs across a number of its global fleet since then, it claims.

“However, it is only through the widespread cooperation, support, and alignment of all industry participants, that we will achieve a positive outcome which will be to the benefit of our entire industry,” TFG Marine says.

In August, the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) said that the use of MFMs is one of the ways to mitigate supplier-buyer disputes in the global bunker market. It said the use of MFMs will help to increase transparency between suppliers and buyers and reduce quantity-related disputes in fuel deliveries.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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