DHAHRAN — Aramco Trading Company (ATC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aramco and its commercial trading arm, Tuesday announced it had commenced bunkering operations at Yanbu industrial Port, in Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, the Saudi Customs Authority and the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).

ATC has commissioned a 6,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) barge, the MT Halki, equipped with mass flow meters. Its first delivery of 1,600 metric tons (MT) of very low sulphur fuel oil to MT Lake Trout complied with International Maritime Organization regulations, which mandate a maximum sulfur content of 0.5%. The logistics turnaround time also met international standards.

ATC maintains storage and blending facilities at Yanbu capable of supplying up to 150,000 MT of bunker supplies per month, with the potential for further upscaling.

Ibrahim Al-Buainain, CEO of ATC, said: “ATC intends to offer a world-class bunker supply service, adopting industry best practices to ensure a safe, reliable and competitive package to ship owners in one of the world’s busiest sea routes.

“Yanbu is strategically located southeast of the Suez Canal in the Red Sea, and we seek to provide ship owners with certainty around pricing, availability, quality and logistics to develop Yanbu’s potential as a bunkering hub in the region.” — SG