Hong Kong‘s government is set to mandate the use of mass flow meters (MFMs) for deliveries of methanol as a marine fuel.

Klaus Chan, principal assistant secretary at the Hong Kong government’s Transport and Logistics Bureau, set out the plan at an opening presentation at the IBIA Annual Convention in Hong Kong on Thursday.

“We will mandate the use of mass flow meters for all barges engaged in methanol bunkering in Hong Kong,” Chan said.

Singapore has mandated the use of MFMs for conventional fuels since 2017, while Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges are set to require the same from next year. Fujairah‘s authorities have also said they will consider imposing a similar mandate, and South Korea is now reportedly imposing a mandate from 2027.

MFMs are a more accurate means of measuring bunker deliveries.

Traditional tank soundings taken with a measuring tape are vulnerable to both accidental and deliberate misreporting of delivered volumes. The ‘cappuccino bunkers’ effect, where air bubbles in the oil give the impression of more fuel having been delivered than was actually the case, has been a longstanding problem in the industry, and one that can be eliminated by the use of MFMs.