TFG Marine to start first Mideast bunker fuel supply at Oman's SOHAR port

Frontline

28/02/2024 04:10

SINGAPORE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Marine fuel supplier TFG
Marine, majority-owned by commodities trader Trafigura, has
entered into an agreement with Oman's SOHAR Port and Freezone to
set up its first Middle Eastern bunker fuel supply, the
companies said in a statement late Tuesday. 
    Situated in Oman near the Strait of Hormuz and facing the
Arabian Sea, the SOHAR Port and Freezone is located on one of
the world's key shipping routes, connecting the Middle East and
the Indian subcontinent with the rest of the world. 
    TFG Marine plans to start bunker deliveries once its first
bunker vessel arrives at the port, in the coming months, the
company said.  
    The vessel will be fitted with a mass flow meter that is
calibrated to meet the latest international standards, as
mandated by SOHAR Port. 
    More than 3,000 vessels of all sizes currently call at SOHAR
port each year, the companies said, and the number is expected
to rise as TFG refuels its global fleet of ships.
    "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. 
    There is potential for SOHAR Port to "quickly become a major
new physical bunkering procurement location in the Middle East"
for the world's shipping fleet, he added. 
    TFG, a joint venture involving Trafigura, Frontline and
Golden Ocean, manages a global fleet of more than 700 owned and
chartered vessels, as well as third-party vessels.  
    The company told Reuters in an interview last year that it
plans to expand operations in several existing and new markets. 

    

 (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
 ((Jeslyn.Lerh@thomsonreuters.com;))