Asia/Pacific News
SLPA: BP Singapore Bunker Cargo for MRMR Was Not Contaminated
Reports circulating last week claiming that 25,000 metric tonnes (mt) of contaminated, unfit for sale bunkers were delivered to Sri Lanka's port of Hambantota are "false rumours" intended to discredit the new bunkering operation, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has told Ship & Bunker.
"The subject parcel was shipped by an Oil Major, BP Singapore, which has been ranked as the number one bunker fuel supplier in Singapore for 12 consecutive years. The products were loaded from their own storage tanks at Tankstore Terminal, which is one of the largest petroleum product storages facilities in Singapore," SLPA said in a written statement.
"The products were shipped on board a tanker owned and operated by TORM tankers of Denmark which is also a highly reputed tanker company in the world. Hence the credibility of the source, supplier, storage and transporter is well established and the quality of the products have been tested at all points of the supply chain in Singapore by independent laboratories belonging to 'Intertek' and 'Geo-Chem' and at the Ceypetco Laboratory in Sri Lanka.
"Hence we guarantee that our products meet the stringent quality requirements of the bunker fuels and we will provide with quality reports of each and every tank the products are stored prior to the supply."
The report first emerged on the country's Daily FT website last week before being covered by a number of other websites, but SLPA stressed to Ship & Bunker that it was not contacted for comment prior to the publication of what it described as an "article written with malicious intent."
Bunkering operations at Hambantota, also known as Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port (MRMR), began at the end of June after being hit by a number of delays.
The SLPA has exclusive rights to operate the tank farm and bunkering facility through its fully owned private firm Magampura Port Management Company Ltd. (MPMC), a fact that SLPA said was the most likely reason it was targeted by the rumour.
SLPA says it wants Hambantota to become the leading bunkering port in the region, and last year said it eventually wants a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering facility at MRMR.
