West Renews VPS Contract in 2025
In September 2025, West renewed its landmark agreement with Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS), continuing its collaboration to deliver bunker fuel quality insights through the Club’s Neptune portal.
Launched in 2020, West’s Bunker Fuel Quality Advisory Service provides Members with practical, independent intelligence about marine fuels. Through the Neptune platform, Members can access:
- Fuel quality statistics at major ports worldwide.
- VPS Bunker Alerts, issued when fuel quality concerns or contamination cases arise.
As noted in our original 2021 announcement and subsequent 2024 update, this information provides Members with a practical tool to reduce the risk of disputes, machinery damage and non-compliance.
Detailed VPS data across all global ports in the VPS portfolio is available upon request from West’s Loss Prevention team: LPQueries@westpandi.com.
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Recent trends
According to VPS’s 2024 Marine Bunker Fuels Review:
- In 2024, VLSFO had an off-specification rate of 5.4% “… Europe provided the highest level of off-specification VLSFOs in both 2024 (11.9%) and 2023 (7.9%).”
- “MGO suffered from cold-flow, flash point and FAME off-specifications”
- “10.4% of HSFOs tested in 2024 were off-specification for at least one test parameter.”
These observations confirm that, while compliance with quality standards was generally maintained, significant risks remain across all fuel grades.
West’s key highlights of 2025 from analysis of the VPS data:
- Overall improvement in HFO off-spec rates, but density/viscosity risks persist.
- VLSFO stable, but regional sulphur failures are still present.
- ULSFO is problematic with spikes of technical off-specs up to 48% in some ports.
- MGO consistently high-risk on pour point.
Why the renewal matters
The continuation of the VPS contract means Members retain access to:- Timely alerts – VPS Bunker Alerts flag port-specific risks such as unusual sulphur failures or contamination incidents.
- Smarter procurement – Neptune’s Bunker Info tab allows Members to compare ports and avoid higher-risk suppliers.
- Reduced claims exposure – Avoiding off-specification fuel helps prevent costly disputes, de-bunkering or engine damage.
- Regulatory confidence – VPS statistics support compliance with emissions regulations.
- Detailed global coverage – Upon request, Members may obtain full port-by-port VPS quality statistics through West’s Loss Prevention department (LPQueries@westpandi.com).