(Trinidad Express) Bad aviation fuel from State-owned National Petroleum (NP) shut down the domestic airbridge on Tuesday afternoon, leaving passengers stranded. Inform-ed sources said NP, which provides aviation fuel to all airlines, has been prohibited from supplying fuel, following tests at a lab (in a Carib-bean island) which showed that NP was producing aviation fuel containing sulphur above the permissible level.

Sources said NP now has to clean and blow out its lines and reprocess the fuel in the uncontaminated lines in order to remove the sulphur. The process would take 24 hours, sources said.

Sources stressed that NP has taken steps to correct the flaws in its processing arrangements that have led to the production of fuel with excess sulphur. The company will issue a notification in which it would explain to the international airline community what has happened.

Sources said while aircraft used for the international flights have made alternative arrangements to refuel in neighbouring Caribbean countries, such as Antigua, the domestic flights have been seriously affected by the situation.

NP stated last night that the aviation fuel at the Petrotrin refinery “exceeded the sulphur” limit of 0.0030 per cent weight.

The company stated that it had informed the Airports Authority of the problem as well as affected airlines and has also issued bulletins to incoming aircraft that fuel will not be available for sale at both airports.

“Steps are being taken to replace this off-specification fuel with on-specification product. All fuel will be flushed and our operations at Piarco are expected to be back in full service by Thursday morning,” the company added in a media statement.

On Sunday, Petrotrin, the company which supplies aviation fuel and gasolene, suffered a major fire near its Bond facility at Pointe-a-Pierre, but sources could not say if the fire affected the content of the aviation fuel.

In a media statement issued last night Caribbean Airlines stated that it had been advised by the Airports Authority that there has been a disruption in the fuel supply for the airline.