A group of tanker operators has asked the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to exempt oil barges from a rule requiring all crude carriers to have double hulls by end-April.

In a letter addressed to the agency, the Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport Association (Philpesta) said that a recent Supreme Court decision ordering the relocation of the Pandacan oil depot in Manila “has changed the picture of market for barges.”

“Since the depot is only given until 2013 to relocate, it is just proper to freeze compliance to such kind of vessels to the new requirement in order not to jeopardize their investments,” said a Philpesta official, referring to the letter.

Since the investment needed to comply with the double-hull regulation may reach P150 million, it may take operators a decade to recover such investment since many of them have long-term contracts with the oil firms and the market is not expected to achieve tremendous growth, the source explained.

“There is no way that they could get it in three to five years. There is no guarantee for our return of investment beyond 2013,” he said. “We were not against the new requirement when Marina issued it last year, but when the Supreme Court upheld its earlier decision on the transfer, we started to have reservations on the issue as there is no business guarantee.”

Currently, at least 20 tanker-barges carrying black oil have yet to comply with the requirement.

For their part, bigger tankers have already complied with the rule even before the deadline since most of them transport shipments on a time-charter basis and are required to follow stricter rules of oil companies.

Besides supplying half of the Philippines’ fuel demand and all lubricant requirements of both transport and industrial sectors, the depot also serves about two-thirds of the shipping industry’s fuel needs and three-quarters of aviation-fuel requirements.

Earlier, the Marina issued a warning that it will cancel licenses of oil tankers and even suspend their local registration if vessels fail to comply with the new requirement by April 30.

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A group of tanker operators has asked the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to exempt oil barges from a rule requiring all crude carriers to have double hulls by end-April.

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