bunkering

300px|thumb|Tatiana B and Florence B, two bunkering tankers thumb|The bunker barge Double Skin 30 refuels the Margarete Schulte container ship in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.]] thumb|alt=A livestock carrier receiving bunkers from a bunker vessel in Fremantle Harbour, Australia|A livestock carrier receiving fuel from a bunker vessel in [[Fremantle Harbour, Australia]] thumb|Dutch cruise ship Prinsendam receiving fuel from bunkering tanker Mozart in the [[port of Zeebrugge, Belgium]] thumb|Bunkering tanker on the Nile near [[Luxor, Egypt]] Bunkering is the supplying of fuel for use by ships (such fuel is referred to as bunker), including the logistics of loading and distributing the fuel among available shipboard tanks. A person dealing in trade of bunker (fuel) is called a bunker trader.

The term bunkering originated in the days of steamships, when coal was stored in bunkers. Nowadays, the term bunker is generally applied to the petroleum products stored in tanks, and bunkering to the practice and business of refueling ships. Bunkering operations take place at seaports and include the storage and provision of the bunker (ship fuels) to vessels.