Sohar Port and Freezone and TFG Marine recently signed an MoU to establish an international bunker fuel supply operation within the Omani deep-sea port.
Commenting on this agreement, Emile Hoogsteden, CEO of Sohar Port, said it reconfirmed its commitment to build a “digitalised and transparent bunker operation that meets international standards already introduced in Singapore and soon to be implemented in Rotterdam.” Under the terms of the MOU, TFG Marine will establish an international bunker fuel supply operation at Sohar Port which will offer all grades of bunker fuel.
In particular, TFG Marine will be able to refuel the fleet of its joint venture owners, Trafigura, Frontline and Golden Ocean, which collectively manage a fleet of more than 700 owned and chartered vessels, as well as third party vessels.
“This is an ideal location for TFG to establish its first bunker fuel supply operation in the Middle East,” said Kenneth Dam, TFG Marine’s Global Head of Bunkering. “With the intention to emulate Singapore’s best in class approach there is the potential for Sohar Port to quickly become a major new physical bunkering procurement location in the Middle East for the world’s shipping fleet.”
TFG Marine intends to start deliveries with a local operating company, with its first bunker vessel arriving in Sohar in the next few months. The vessel will be fitted with a Mass Flow Meter (MFM), calibrated to the ISO 22192 international standard as required by Sohar Port. TFG Marine says it has long been an advocate of the global adoption of calibrated MFMs to bring “much-needed transparency to bunkering and encouraging digitalisation in the long-term interests of the bunker industry and helping to further the decarbonisation goals of the shipping industry.”
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