Quality Standard for Marine Fuel

The quality standard for marine fuel is ISO 8217, which sets the physical and chemical requirements for residual and distillate fuels delivered to ships before onboard handling. The 2024 seventh edition, the first full revision since 2017, added four RM grades for 0.50 and 0.10 percent sulfur fuels (VLSFO and ULSFO), five RF biofuel grades allowing unrestricted FAME, cloud-point and cold-filter-plugging-point limits on winter distillates, and cut DMA and DMZ sulfur to 1.00 mass percent. Grade codes encode type, viscosity, and sulfur, for example RMG 380 (residual, 380 cSt at 50 C) and DMA (distillate). The standard underpins bunker disputes and the bunker delivery note required under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 18.