A quick glance at In Port's Shipping Intelligence column shows the number of ships calling this past week was once again poor, writes David Barnicoat. A small flurry of activity on the bunkering front is expected in the next few days but in general October has been a quiet month in terms of shipping numbers.

Without the bunkering company World Fuel operating in Falmouth the port would be financially on its knees with many jobs at risk.

Removing the ships calling for bunkers or conducting business outside port limits and you are left with only two ships moving in the port this past week, the general cargo vessel Glen and HMS Tyne. 
Gone are the halcyon days of 2007 when the bunkering bonanza saw 120 ships a month calling for fuel. New regulations introduced then saw the English Channel designated as a Sulphur Oxide Emissions Control Area (SECA) by the EU.

Vessels entering these SECA areas were required to burn fuel oil with a sulphur content of less than 1.5 per cent and Falmouth was strategically located to provide this fuel. Now many major ports around the world stock the fuel.

Last year the harbour commissioners reported 719 ships calling for bunkers compared with 880 in 2012 and the trend is downwards.