ARACON, the longest-running and biggest bunkering conference in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region returns to Rotterdam on 19-20 October to deliver another incisive, no-nonsense conference programme that will report on the ‘health’ of the marine fuels and shipping sectors.

Late 2023 may well be an inflexion point for the ARA bunker market – and the marine fuels sector. The industry is grappling with the demands of recent regulations, such as EEXI and CII, and close on the horizon – in 2024 – the EU’s Fit for 55 measures will begin to impact bunkering and shipping operations. The inclusion of shipping in the EU’s Emissions Trading System will mean profound change for both Europe-based and international owners, and bunker companies will also have to keep ahead of the curve.

Last year’s very healthy margins for bunker companies may be a little slimmer in 2023, and credit may be harder to come by. And for fuel buyers, finding the large sums required to purchase carbon credits in the EU ETS will be another major task sitting near the top of their ‘to do’ lists.

The use of mass flow metres for bunker deliveries generated some lively and combative discussion at ARACON 2022 and, with their use now to be mandated at the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges, delegates can expect the conversation on this issue to be just as engaging and stimulating at ARACON 2023.

How the Ukraine situation will evolve over the year is not clear, but many believe the geopolitical landscape has undergone an irrevocable change. ARACON 2023 will once again consider the impact of sanctions on bunkering and shipping and the imperative for careful due diligence.

Fuel quality in the ARA market is always a topic for close debate at ARACON and the conference this year will look at another ‘new’ issue in prospect – the impending revision of ISO 8217. New fuels will also be on the agenda as well as the potential to streamline bunker deliveries and vessel operations. through increased digitalisation.

And what of the old? As the industry prepares for the ‘shock of the new’ in terms of regulation, legislation, fuels and technology, is the way it goes about its day-to-day business also heading for change? ARACON 2023 will turn the spotlight on bunkering’s traditional – and often rather opaque – business model and ask if the sector is really ready for some root and branch reform.

ARACON’s conference programme attracts all the main bunker suppliers and barging companies in the ARA and Northwest Europe as well as dozens of European shipowners and managers. In 2023, the conference will once again deliver excellent content and enthusiastic debate and will round off with some fantastic networking at a fabulous reception and dinner at the elegant Royal Maas Yacht Club.