North of England P&I Club has informed members that the new edition of the international standards on marine fuels has been released. Referred to as ISO 8217:2017, it includes some important changes from previous editions. Although not a strict mandatory quality standard, ISO 8217 is a widely used commercial specification, referenced in almost all bunker purchasing contracts and time charter parties.
Published on March 19th 2017 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the changes in the latest edition include:
An introduction of new distillate grades — DFA, DFZ and DFB — which allow a maximum fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content of 7%.
The definition of de minimis with regard to FAME content in other distillate grades is amended from 0.1% to 0.5%.
Cloud point and cold filter plugging point have been added to winter grades of DMA and DMZ.
There are also reduced sulphur limits for most distillate fuel grades.
Further details at ISO web site:
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:8217:ed-6:v1:en