JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
But the system already exists for commercial vessels, including commercially operated yachts. It has been brought in!
Belgium Again!
- Thread starter Seven Spades
- Start date
But the system already exists for commercial vessels, including commercially operated yachts. It has been brought in!
Biggles Wader
Well-Known Member
Yes, some people would make fraudulent claims to HRMC as they always do but that's an enforcement issue and no reason not to bring our current arrangements into the 21st century.
westhinder
Well-Known Member
Absolutely agree.
It would also have the beneficial effect of making the UK much more attractive for continental yachts. Making a longer trip to the UK now either involves cumbersome trips with jerrycans to roadside petrol stations or the risk of getting heavy fines.
As I mentioned earlier, it is not only the British yachts that get checked for red diesel in their tanks.
Those of you who argue that Belgian ports now miss out on trade from UK yachts should realise that UK ports suffer similar losses.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
So what happens to Dutch yachts, coming back from cruising up the coast of Spain, who stop off at the Channel islands to re fuel with red? I have seen quite a few do this. When I spoke to one owner, he said that he would just tell customs that it was a safety issue & he had no choice.
Just because the UK may change to white does it mean that the CI's will do the same. If one buys fuel there & then goes to France or Belgium, what happens?
French boats often fill up in the CI's. I know that France is more relaxed about UK flagged boats, but there must be a limit.
Just because the UK may change to white does it mean that the CI's will do the same. If one buys fuel there & then goes to France or Belgium, what happens?
French boats often fill up in the CI's. I know that France is more relaxed about UK flagged boats, but there must be a limit.
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chrishscorp
Well-Known Member
Those of us who are lucky enough to have 2 stroke outboards seem to be able to cope with measuring out 2 stroke oil and adding it to the fuel, surely if you want rebated fuel at a fuel pontoon then a can of red dye could be used to mark the white marine fuel to red at an appropriate dosage for the commercial craft purchaser, applied by the fuel berth operator. Providing the diesel is charged at full duty rate it is unlikely to be cheaper than a garage forcourt so unlikely to end up in a car. How difficult does it have to be ?
DJE
Well-Known Member
But that would require HMRC to trust the pump operator - or even the boat owner on self-service fuel berths.
Old Harry
Well-Known Member
English marina white, is bound to be more expensive than from a forecourt, even the 60/40 is generally higher or very similar
chrishscorp
Well-Known Member
The default postion on the self service pontoons would have to be 100% fuel duty. If your a commercial operator you are probably VAT regd so should be able to claim back the overcharge, if no one from the marina is available to dispense fuel at lower rate and dye it.
Anyone regd for VAT is already working on trust for HMRC so no change, there is nothing to stop them 'test purchasing' so see if some one is operating a fiddle.
[70521]
Well-Known Member
I am about to buy this years 40l of white road fuel from my local Shell garage, what sort of prices are you guys paying for red?
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
I remember seeing a sign at l'Aberwrach saying that duty free petrol would be available to commercial operators (presumably fish farms and the like) on Tuesdays at a certain time. The French can always be pragmatic.
Fr J Hackett
Well-Known Member
It wouldn't be beyond the wit of man to have an automatic dosing option available so that you could select white or red. The receipt could be configured to show what was bought and its VAT payment status.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Just as they do know when they ask us to declare how much fuel duty we want to pay.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
How hard would it be to devise a pump which could dispense at "leisure" and "commercial" prices, adding dye as it dispenses in the later case? As a matter of interest, is the additive which turns unleaded into super unleaded added in the tanks or in the pump?
maby
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what the current practice is, but it was the case that those additives were added to the fuel tanker at the depot. I worked right next to Buncefield before the explosion (my office was reduced to a pile of bricks) and we got to know some of the tanker drivers - they were issued with a bucket of additive to pour into the tank as it was being filled up.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Ta.
RichardS
N/A
That was one hell of an explosion! I remember I was driving down the M40 somewhere near Oxford and looking over to the west at a column of smoke rising into the sky in the very far distance and thinking what the hell is that. :ambivalence:
Richard
Biggles Wader
Well-Known Member
Lucky it happened at five in the morning eh? I remember hearing the bang from about twenty miles away.
maby
Well-Known Member
Our house is about four or five miles from Buncefield, down in the valley and we were there at the time of the explosion. Our bedroom faces away from the industrial area and I was half awake when it went bang - I honestly didn't hear it! The stairs creaked and I saw the curtain move a bit - I did wonder if we had a burglar in the house, but there were no more noises, so I turned over and went back to sleep. I got out of bed a couple of hours later and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea - as I passed a north facing window, I wondered what the glow was - turned on the TV and realised that hell had broken out. At that time, I was working for Mc Donnell Douglas which was the closest building to the depot. A three storey building collapsed to about twenty feet high - on a weekday we would have had close to 500 people in it - possibly more!
FulmarJeddo
Well-Known Member
We were in Oostende on Wednesday and had a visit from Belgium Customs. Having filled up purely on white Diesel for the last couple of years, I wasn't too worried. They very politely requested permission to come on board to check our documentation and a fuel check. We welcomed them aboard with a handshake and I produced my folder of documents handing them my passport, SSR certificate and Bill of Sale, rummaging through my documents I asked if they wanted proof of VAT (my boat started its life in Guernsey and was later imported back into the UK), "No we are not interested in that."
Two officers sat in the cockpit whilst the third asked if he could go below asking if we had excessive drinks or illegal substances. We replied it had all been drunk. The documents were photographed and everything was very light hearted with laughter from all on board.
Nothing further was said about fuel, we were thanked for our cooperation and wished a safe onward journey with a further hand shake.
Another team carried out a similar check on one of the boats with us with the same attitudes and actions. I suspect if we hadn't complied with the correct documentation or been awkward, our tanks may have been dipped.
Two officers sat in the cockpit whilst the third asked if he could go below asking if we had excessive drinks or illegal substances. We replied it had all been drunk. The documents were photographed and everything was very light hearted with laughter from all on board.
Nothing further was said about fuel, we were thanked for our cooperation and wished a safe onward journey with a further hand shake.
Another team carried out a similar check on one of the boats with us with the same attitudes and actions. I suspect if we hadn't complied with the correct documentation or been awkward, our tanks may have been dipped.
Old Harry
Well-Known Member
Excellent news, perhaps also adding this to the the East Coast section would be good info for them too
