Industry body IBIA has unveiled revamped branding to its membership emphasizing the role of green fuels, but has decided to keep the word ‘bunkering’ in its name after feedback from the industry.

The organisation’s management set out the details of its rebranding in a members’ meeting on Tuesday.

IBIA’s new logo incorporates an image of a globe surrounding two ships next to each other, one of which is coloured green. 

“The refreshed IBIA brand is more than a design change; it reflects who we are today and where we are heading,” one of IBIA’s management said at the meeting.

“Our new logo is built around three key elements: the two vessels symbolising bunkering itself, the heart of our industry, the globe, representing IBIA’s international reach and our role as a global voice, and the green element, highlighting the transition towards greener, more sustainable shipping.”

The green emphasis in the rebranding comes at a time when parts of the industry have sought to move away from wording and imagery associated with fossil fuels in their brands amid the shipping industry’s energy transition. In 2021 Peninsula, one of the world’s largest bunkering firms, rebranded to remove the word ‘Petroleum’ from its name and removed drops of oil from its logo.

In March 2024 IBIA issued a survey to its members asking in part whether it should consider a change of name ‘to represent the future of the marine fuels landscape’.

The organisation has now concluded it will keep its name unchanged, IBIA’s management said in Tuesday’s meeting.

“To answer the question very shortly, in IBIA the ‘bunkering’ is not changing,” one of the managers said.

“We started with the support of our board a year and a half ago a brand audit for our association.

“The consensus was that we need to remain focused on what we do, and this is bunkering.”

Another senior IBIA official in the meeting noted that the word ‘bunkering’ need not necessarily be associated only with fossil fuels.

“What we keep reminding ourselves is that there is not a more inclusive word for the procedure than ‘bunkering’,” the manager said.

“People sometimes tend to focus on it only concerning one aspect, whereas it doesn’t; it’s everything, and with whatever fuel or energy provider is there to propel our ships. 

“‘Bunkering’ encapsulates the very essence of the full marine energy chain.”

The organisation is hosting the IBIA Annual Convention in Hong Kong next month.

The event is being hosted at the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel from November 18-20 as part of Hong Kong Maritime Week, and will see bunker industry representatives from around the world discussing the latest developments affecting marine fuels.

For more information on the event and to register, click here.