As a result, the company said that it has extended the ownership of its supply chain across core markets in the Arabian Gulf, West Africa and the Panama Canal at a critical point of time in bunkering and shipping, ahead of the IMO2020.
With global marine fuel logistics expected to be challenged in areas, such as flexibility and storage capacity, due to the introduction of the new very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) products, Monjasa is active securing the right tonnage for its long-term bunker operations, the company claimed.
“Last year, we increased our total supply volume by 17% to 4.1 mill tonnes of marine fuel and we continue to see a growing demand for our services. This is also part of the reason we are now purchasing five quality tankers,” said Group CEO, Anders Østergaard.
“We are on the brink of bringing new low sulfur fuel products to the market and the entire industry needs to adapt to a new multiple products demand. These five tankers can segregate between two and six different types of oil products on board and this contributes to making them an attractive investment for us. Coupled with an average age of 10 years the tankers are fully-furnished to handle the leap in quality required to perform bunker operations come 2020,” he added.
Leading up to the acquisitions, four of the tankers were previously bareboat chartered by Monjasa.
All five will be deployed for continued bunker operations in Monjasa core markets in the Arabian Gulf, West Africa and the Panama Canal.
On 15th August, Monjasa took delivery of the first two tankers in Dubai. The remaining tankers will be delivered during the coming months.
In total, Monjasa controls around 20 tankers globally of which 10 are fully owned. It remains a priority to have a fleet containing the right mix of chartered and owned tonnage, to ensure both operational and financial flexibility across the group, the company explained.