Bunker Bungle

A commercial manager had, for several months, been operating a ship on a regular route which involved a call at Singapore, where she was usually bunkered. The commercial manager was advised by the ship owners that the ship had been sold for scrap and that, on its next call at Singapore, instead of taking on full bunkers she only needed to lift sufficient bunkers to reach her scrapping location.

Unfortunately, the commercial manager’s operations team failed to take note of the owner’s instructions and bunkered the ship with the usual amount. When the ship was scrapped, the additional bunkers were an unexpected gift to the scrap yard. The owners brought a claim on the commercial manager for USD 95,000 which was the difference in value of bunkers purchased.