Dubai: Aramco Trading Company (ATC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, has commenced bunkering operations at Yanbu Industrial Port. The operation will be carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, the Saudi Customs Authority and Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).
“ATC intends to offer a world-class bunker supply service, adopting industry best practices to ensure a safe, reliable and competitive package to ship owners in one of the world’s busiest sea routes,” said Ibrahim Al-Buainain, CEO of ATC. “Yanbu is strategically located southeast of the Suez Canal in the Red Sea, and we seek to provide ship owners with certainty around pricing, availability, quality and logistics to develop Yanbu’s potential as a bunkering hub in the region.”
ATC has commissioned a 6,000-deadweight tonnage (DWT) barge, the MT Halki, equipped with mass flow meters. Its first delivery of 1,600 metric tons (MT) of very low sulphur fuel oil to MT Lake Trout complied with International Maritime Organization regulations, which mandate a maximum sulphur content of 0.5 per cent. The logistics turnaround time also met international standards.
ATC maintains storage and blending facilities at Yanbu capable of supplying up to 150,000 MT of bunker supplies per month, with the potential for further upscaling.
