ABSTRACT
As around 90% of world trade is carried by ships and fuel costs constitute over two out of three of ships’ operating cost, marine bunkering is one of the most important issues for maritime sector. Thus, maritime industry is continuously trying to find a variety of solutions and alternatives in order to reduce bunker costs. Fluctuations in world trade and bunker prices make difficult and oblige to struggle with this issue. In this study, literature review of bunkering decisions and bunkering being crucial both maritime and energy sector were investigated. Basic bunkering decision criteria and research methods about bunkering in literature were examined. Results of examination, bunkering decision criteria are quite various and the most stated criteria were determined as “bunker price and price competition”, “quality of bunker” and “geographical advantage of refueling area”.
