While the debate rumbles on, it does look as though in the long run, open-loop scrubber systems may find their operations confined to international waters, with ships equipped with them merely having to switch fuels as they approach port. Several owners have already come out and said they will do just that, and that this would have little to no effect on scrubber economics. In this respect, Fujairah may be an early adopter rather than an outlier. Happily for operators, Fujairah has also announced that Fujairah Refining has begun manufacturing and production of 0.50% sulphur fuel oil, making it available to any vessels calling at port as of February this year. The Middle East Gulf region isn’t short on would-be rivals for Fujairah’s bunker business should it become a less attractive destination for owners. Oman has spent a few years promoting itself as a potential bunkering hub based on its position at the mouth of the Gulf. While progress has been slow, it has also been relatively steady. The turn of the year saw the port of Duqm sign a bunkering terminal deal with Shell Oman Marketing. The terminal deal should see Shell offering fuels and lubes in varying grades as well as ancillary services to visiting vessels.
MIDDLE EAST
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hile that remains a supposition rather than a demonstrated fact, and would do until long-term use by ships at berth proved either way, it’s perhaps understandable that busy ports like Fujairah are taking a precautionary approach.
Port of Duqm draws a clear ambition to become a future bunker hub serving in the entire region taking advantage of its prime location as well as the availability of the right fuel specs and offer prime bunker services accordingly. Being closely located to the major oil and gas and mining projects in Oman, Port of Duqm is seeking to increase its activity level radically in the years to come.” “Port of Duqm is committed to provide an extensive support and service to Shell Oman’s downstream business operation in the Sultanate of Oman and continue to be the most preferred port in the region.” Duqm is also a strategic port that, along with Salalah, has been used as an occasional resupply point for US Navy vessels operating in the Gulf for some time. Those arrangements took on a more concrete form in March when the US and Oman signed a deal, reportedly long in negotiation, giving the US regular access to both ports with tensions over Iran and concerns over the security of US naval operations in the area high on the US Navy’s agenda. The deal will allow the US Navy “to take advantage from the facilities offered at some of the Sultanate’s ports and airports during visits of the US military vessels and aircrafts, particularly in the port of Duqm” according to the state-run Omani News Agency. The port already has a UK Royal Navy support presence on the back of a similar agreement with Britain, and the Omani government has been trying to get a joint investment project with Chinese backing off the ground at Duqm.
Whether military or civilian, boosting the port’s vessel traffic should see a knock-on effect on bunker sales. Across the Gulf, though one assumes probably not eyeing US Navy refuelling contracts, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines has called on Iran to step up its bunker business as it begins to bunker at a new terminal on Qeshm Island. Before the change in the US political climate and the re-emphasis on sanctions, Iran had been keen on making Qeshm a bunker hub to challenge Fujairah rather than seeing its oil products exported to the UAE for sale. Now, according to the country’s Tasnim news agency, IRISL managing director Mohammad Saeedi has said: “If we establish suitable fueling infrastructure in the country, ships will get cheaper fuel at Iranian bunkering sites instead of doing a 130-mile detour to Fujairah. The government, the ministry of petroleum and the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran should help develop this lucrative and productive industry. In this regard, we need more cooperation from the ministry of petroleum. Our oil products should not go the UAE and for fuel, Iranian vessels should be supplied by our own storage sites.” A second major bunkering terminal is under construction at Bandar Abbas. Meanwhile Iranian fuel is said to end up on the market elsewhere but Iranian suppliers say their local price per tonne is several dollars cheaper on average than at ports across the Gulf. The success or otherwise of the bunker hub plans may depend on how deeply sanctions over oil exports bite and whether price differences are enough to lure traffic to the Islamic Republic.
“This agreement is a part of Shell Oman’s development plan to expand its operations in major ports in Oman. And with the developments happening at Port of Duqm, Shell Oman decided to further extend its services in the port,” the port said in a statement. “With new global bunker regulations coming into effect as from 2020,
World Bunkering SUMMER 2019
Duqm’s status as a fuelling base for the US Navy has been reinforced ©USN/Preston Paglinawan
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