I had a very interesting conversation recently with someone that had been a senior person in HISWA (Dutch equivalent to BMF) but had now left and was working as a consultant.
He commented that in Holland they had a lot of problems a few years back with the diesel bug when recreational craft had to switch from red to white diesel. He implied that red had additives added that prolonged the life of the diesel so that it could be stored in tanks for long periods of time whereas white was expected to be used quickly and not stored. As a result, when Holland switched from red to white, craft continued to follow the usual practice of filling the fuel tank to the brim for the winter period to avoid water contamination through condensation but the result was there was a large increase in cases of the diesel bug. The solution seemed to be that if using white diesel then it was best to drain the fuel tank over the winter period. Does anyone have any information on the differences between red and white diesel that would affect the storage performance of the fuel? Many thanks. -- Michael Clarke
