EMEA News
Mauritius to End Offshore Bunkering, Boost Storage for Onshore Bunkering
Coming developments in Mauritius' evolving bunker market will be an end of offshore bunkering, and a boost to bunker storage, Dr Ramchandra Bhennick, Chairman, State Trading Corporation (STC) has told Ship & Bunker.
Speaking on the sidelines of this week's SIBCON conference and exhibition in Singapore, Bhennick said the timing of the change to offshore bunkering had yet to be agreed, but it was ultimately about safeguarding the environment.
"Here the environment is very sensitive, and it is important to protect this by ending offshore bunkering," he said.
Onshore bunkering, however, is set to get a boost from 40,000 tonnes of new storage for IFO380 product that is set to come online in early 2018.
"At the moment we are on track for the new storage to be ready within the next 18 months," Bhennick said.
Mauritius is currently aiming to triple its bunker sales to one million metric tonnes (mt) per year, and in 2015 was the subject of an International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) forum highlighting opportunities in the country.
