Fraudulent behavior in the maritime industry isn’t new, it’s been going on for centuries. And it has been particularly prevalent in the fuel supply chain, a roughly $120B market where fraudulent activity results in billions of dollars being lost annually across the industry.
With bunker fuels constituting roughly 60% of a vessel’s operating expense, any fraudulent activities impacting this cost amounts to a substantial loss for vessel owners/operators. For example, the industry commonly accepts up to a 3% loss due to short bunkering, which equates to a financial impact of roughly $3.6B a year. Additionally, credible research points fraud loss in in excess of 7-10% annually.
But short bunkering isn’t the only problem – there are several areas where fuel fraud occurs, and millions are lost due to the lack of a trust and transparency across the fuel lifecycle:
- Fuel density – misstated fuel amounts at the time of delivery
- Temperature to volume relationship – under or overstated temperature readings
- Water in fuel – deliberate injection of water
- Bunker fuels – inappropriate distillates and additives put into fuels
- Intended collusion – between the supplier, barge crew and ship crew on things like the amount of fuel delivered
Today, it’s critical to have technology in place that can authenticate relationships across the fuel lifecycle, digitally verify data from shared sources, validate decarbonization and compliance, and identify potential fraud and risk.
We invite you to learn more about how this is possible in our whitepaper “The Cost of Fraud in the Maritime Fuel Market” and welcome further discussion on how technology can help alleviate fraud in the fuel supply chain.
For a more in-depth analysis please request the whitepaper: The Cost of Fraud in the Maritime Fuel Market
