Bunker Quotation ETA Change: How to Re-Quote

A bunker quotation ETA change is a re-quote triggered when a vessel's arrival window moves, and the supplier who re-prices fastest usually keeps the stem. Treat the ETA as a moving number, not a fixed date, and build a routine that re-quotes from the queue rather than from the original enquiry.

That routine matters more in weeks when weather and schedule changes stack up. In October 2026, Typhoon Champi forced a halt at Zhoushan's outer Tiaozhoumen and Xiazhimen anchorages (the exposed waiting areas outside the port), according to Hellenic Shipping News (20 October 2026). Operations continued at the sheltered Xiushandong and inner Mazhi anchorages.

What an ETA change actually does to a bunker quote

A bunker quote is built on a delivery window, a barge slot and a fuel price reference. When the ETA moves, all three move with it. The supplier's job is to decide which parts of the quote survive and which must be re-based.

• Delivery window: a vessel pushed back 18 hours may now clash with another stem already booked on the same barge.
• Barge and anchorage allocation: exposed anchorages may be closed, so the delivery point changes.
• Price validity: a quote held for a fixed number of days may expire before the new window opens.
• Quantity: a longer wait can mean more consumption before delivery, so the stem size may rise.

Arrival times are genuinely hard to pin down. A 2022 study in the Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal used machine learning on AIS (the Automatic Identification System, which broadcasts a ship's position and identity) data to forecast vessel arrival times for berth scheduling, and built time buffers whose length depended on how reliable the forecast was (Springer). Suppliers face the same uncertainty, one barge at a time.

Read the anchorage queue before you re-quote

The anchorage queue tells you more about the next 24 hours than the agent's latest ETA message does. Count what is waiting, and where.

1. Split the queue by anchorage. At Zhoushan, the outer anchorages and the inner ones behaved differently under the same typhoon, per Hellenic Shipping News (20 October 2026). A queue at a closed anchorage is not a queue you can serve.
2. Note the direction of travel. Congestion can ease and tighten in the same week. The Loadstar reported on 22 October 2026 that bottlenecks in major Chinese and other Asian ports were subsiding, while the same day it warned that Typhoon Champi could undo those gains (The Loadstar).
3. Watch ports absorbing diverted calls. Khor Fakkan was showing signs of strain after replacing Jebel Ali calls, according to The Loadstar (14 October 2026). A port taking extra calls has a longer queue and tighter barge availability.
4. Check whether the queue is weather-driven or demand-driven. Weather clears; demand does not. Re-quote differently for each.

A four-step re-quote routine

Run the same four steps every time an ETA moves by more than a few hours. The point is to keep the conversation alive with a fresh, defensible number.

1. Confirm the new window with the party who controls it

Ask the agent or the technical superintendent (the shore manager responsible for the vessel's machinery and stores) whether the new ETA is a berth window or an anchorage arrival. They are different commitments and lead to different barge plans.

2. Re-check the delivery point

If the vessel will wait at an exposed anchorage, quote for the sheltered alternative or for delivery alongside. Say plainly which anchorage your quote assumes, so the buyer can compare like with like.

3. Re-base price validity, not the whole price

Hold your fuel reference and restate the validity period against the new window. If the stem size changes because of extra waiting, quote the revised quantity as a separate line so the buyer sees what moved.

4. Send the revision in the same thread

Keep the original quote reference, state what changed and why, and give a clear deadline for acceptance. A revision that arrives as a new document invites a fresh round of comparison shopping.

What to do when the stem is at risk

Some ETA changes are large enough that the original stem will not survive on price alone. In those cases, protect the relationship rather than the margin.

• Offer a split delivery if the barge schedule allows it.
• Confirm in writing which anchorage and which barge you are proposing.
• Tell the buyer what would have to change for the original terms to apply again.
• Log the reason for the change so the next quote for that operator starts from better assumptions.

Volume trends at a port also shape how much flexibility you have. Gibraltar recorded 477 bunker calls in September 2026, up 11% on 431 in the same month a year earlier, according to Gibraltar Port Authority data reported by Hellenic Shipping News (22 October 2026). A busy port with a stable queue tolerates re-quotes better than a congested one with a barge shortage.

Where the disruption is weather-led, the wider congestion picture is worth tracking alongside your own queue; our guide to typhoon port congestion and what it means for suppliers covers how closures ripple through a region. When a berth window opens at short notice instead, the same-day quoting routine in same-day quoting when a berth window opens applies.

How VesselReach helps

Re-quoting well depends on seeing the ETA move before the buyer tells you. VesselReach is a maritime sales intelligence and outreach platform built by CatalystIQ for bunker suppliers and other port service businesses.

• Scheduled and expected arrivals at your chosen ports: you see vessels due at your anchorages and berths, which means you can re-open a quote when the window shifts rather than waiting for a chase email.
• AI company targeting and decision-maker discovery: VesselReach identifies the right company behind each vessel and finds the operations, chartering and procurement contacts, which means your revision reaches the person who can accept it.
• Staged outreach on email, WhatsApp and phone with automated follow-ups: your revised quote goes out on the channel the buyer uses, and a follow-up runs if there is no reply.

Book a VesselReach demo to see the arrival view for your ports; a 10-day free trial follows the demo meeting.