Aug 05, Colombo: The Singapore-based fuel supplier suspended by Sri Lanka for allegedly supplying substandard diesel stocks to the country has rejected the allegation.

The Vitol Group of Companies which has supplied the suspected low quality diesel shipment to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Saturday vehemently rejected the allegation that it is in any way responsible for reported incidents of damage to vehicles and machinery in Sri Lanka.

Issuing a statement, the global fuel supplier has said that the cargo in question was tested in accordance with international testing standards by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation's (CPC) own inspectors before it was discharged.

"It was found to be fully in conformity with all the required contractual specifications, as confirmed in the Certificate of Quality issued by CPC to Vitol,'' a company statement has said.

The company has said that the fuel stock was pumped into a CPC tanker that already contained a stock from another supplier.

Vitol has suggested that the contamination would have occurred during the pumping or at any of a number of points between the terminal and the end consumers.

The company has said that they have seen no evidence to link the cargo supplied by Vitol with the reported damages.

"This cargo came from a larger parcel which has been supplied to a number of our customers in the region, where it has been consumed without incident and found to be fully on specification," Vitol has said.

The company has expected the government to test every possible point of contamination to avoid further problems.

The suspension would be in effect until the investigations on the substandard diesel stocks are over.

The company had been blacklisted in an earlier occasion as well before the tenders for importing fuel were given to it.

Use of the low quality diesel stock has mostly damaged a large number of state vehicles. Technical failures have been reported from the vehicles belonging to the Ports Authority, Department of Railways, Sri Lanka Transport Board, Postal Department and several other government and private institutions.

It has been reported that 18 of the container cranes at the Ports Authority malfunctioned due to the substandard fuel. Several trains, state sector transport buses, and postal trucks were among the vehicles damaged by the low quality fuel.

Preliminary inspections have shown that the fuel filters in these vehicles have been clogged with some residues and damaged the filters.

Meanwhile, top officials at the CPC have expressed suspicion of a possible sabotage attempt by an individual or a group since the most of the damaged vehicles are state vehicles used in major services in the country.

The CPC has sent samples of the contaminated fuel to overseas laboratories for independent testing and the results should reveal whether there are any additives in the fuel stocks, the official has said.