EMEA News
Algoa Bay Bunker Supply Situation to Improve This Week
The supply situation at South Africa's largest bunkering location is set to improve somewhat this week following a dispute between the industry and the government.
As Ship & Bunker has reported previously, supply at Algoa Bay was all but shut down in late September after the South African Revenue Service (SARS) detained five vessels including bunker barges earlier in the month.
This halted the bunker operations of TFG Marine and Minerva Bunkering.
This was followed by one of BP's barges at Algoa Bay, the Amber II, also being detained later on in September.
The Amber II is now expected to resume supplies from October 24 with VLSFO on board, a local source told Ship & Bunker on Friday. Another of BP's vessels, the Al Safa, has been undergoing tank cleaning in Cape Town, but is expected to be back at Algoa Bay supplying VLSFO and HSFO from about the same day.
No new information has emerged about Minerva and TFG's vessels, the source added.
SARS wrote to local shipping industry representatives in July to announce the findings of a longstanding investigation into the Algoa Bay bunker supply market.
The authority's accusation is that marine fuel cargoes have been delivered from other countries into floating storage facilities off Algoa Bay and sold on as bunkers without first having been properly registered and taxed as imports, rather than transshipped product.
It remains unclear whether this accusation was also being levelled at BP.
