BP Marine’s Role in SEA Card Helps Win US Government Award

23 January 2008 09:51

BP Marine has collected its third accolade after the innovation of its SEA Card – Ships' bunkers' Easy Acquisition Card – solution was recognised by the US Government.

Created as a solution to the US Defense Energy Support Center's (DESC) search for a more efficient marine fuel procurement process, SEA Card played a significant role in the Government Fuel Card Program winning the 2007 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award.

The award honours superior Department of Defense acquisition teams and is named after the late David Packard, founder and chairman of Hewlett-Packard and later, deputy secretary of defense.

The Government Fuel Card Program team received the honour for making the acquisition system for air, fleet and sea fuels more efficient, responsive and timely.

Acting Undersecretary of Defense John J. Young Jr said: "This is our most prestigious team award for acquisition excellence. It recognises teams that demonstrated exemplary innovation and best acquisition, technology or logistics practices."

When the Government Fuel Card Program Office was formed in 2006, the AIR and Fleet Card programs had been active for 10 years, but SEA Card was still just a concept.

Today SEA Card – through the expertise of BP Marine and its partner, international transaction processor Multi Service Corporation – provides a secure on-line order management system to fuel Navy, Military Sealift Command, US Coast Guard and Army vessels. Users can order, receipt and pay for fuel electronically at commercial ship refuelling merchants worldwide.

The simple, yet secure auditable process has led to the ordering of more than $200 million in ships' bunker fuel annually. Jointly, all three programs process around 900,000 transactions every year for approximately $750 million of services.

BP Marine's first award of 2007 came in May when its innovative seawater scrubber technology Krystallon – a joint venture with Kittiwake Developments Ltd, won the Protection of the Marine and Atmospheric Environment award at the Seatrade Awards 2007.

The only marine exhaust gas scrubbing unit in commercial operation today, Krystallon was recognised for its work to make shipping more sustainable. With marine environmental legislation tightening, its technology, which brings about a massive reduction in ship emissions including 100% sulphur oxide gas removal and 80% particulate removal, is playing a critical role in helping shipping companies manage their emissions levels.

In September, BP Marine won the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) second annual Bunker Award in recognition of its commitment to quality standards, quantity assurances, customer satisfaction and overall contribution to the Singapore bunkering industry.

BP was the largest bunker supplier by volume in 2006, and is now committing to increasing its oil storage capacity in the port. This year it expects to see Singapore bunker sales hit 30 million metric tonnes (mt).