Push for Bunkering Development Continues at Port of Kochi

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday May 15, 2017

The Port of Kochi is continuing its pursuit to become a regional bunkering hub, local media reports.

The news came as part of the fourth International Bunkering Conference, which was held in the port city on Friday and attended by approximately 140 delegates from the bunkering industry.

Discussions held at the conference are said to be expected to help boost the ease of doing bunkering business at Kochi, streamlining the associated regulatory regime, improving operational efficiency, and increasing bunker quality, as well as ensuring accurate measurement.

As Ship & Bunker reported in April, the port is said to be reaching out to petroleum companies in order to develop tank farms to support the bunkering expansion.

Boosting the southern port’s bunker business is certainly not a new ambition; in 2014 Director General of Shipping Gautam Chatterjee said the port and state authorities had streamlined procedures for bunker sales and were aiming to triple bunker sales to some 400,000 metric tonnes (mt) per annum over the following three years.