BUNKERING
Melones Oil Terminal under construction
ships owners to bunker in Panama providing that ‘we stay very competitive in price,’ comments Digeronimo. OW Bunker came into the market in November 2010 with the M/T OW Otilia, one of the largest bunker barges operating in Panama with a capacity of 8,000 tonnes.
VT Shipping entered the market in October 2009 and operates two double- hull barges on long-term charters: the 4,198 tonne Venray and the 2,900 tonne Vaals (Clean MDO/Black HFO) in service with the company in Rotterdam. They have been brought to Panama together with superintendents to guarantee training of their local crews to achieve the highest international standards of safety, maneuverability and sustainable operation.
‘These past two years showed a growth of 126% and we expect to continue growing at the same speed and be able to bring another one or two barges [to supply the market],’ says Digeronimo. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network
pain-based CEPSA is one of the leading world suppliers of bunker fuels with a track record in the bunker business dating back to 1929. CEPSA supplies directly to the main Spanish ports, ranks first in the Spanish mainland, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Canary Islands. The company has three refineries, strategically located in Algeciras, Huelva and Tenerife, and exploration ventures in Algeria, Egypt, Colombia and Peru.
S CEPSA Panama S.A. was opened in1998 PANAMA MARITIME REVIEW 2011/12
took possession in August 2011 of a 20- year concession to administer the former installations of government-owned APSA comprising 65 tanks and supply bunkers on both entrances of the Panama Canal with total storage capacity of 2.5m bbl. According to Panamanian authorities, Aegean committed itself to invest $7m to repair and upgrade the 50-year old tank farm and pipelines. The company brought two barges to move their own supplies. The new investments in place and those forecast will increase volumes by at least 50%, says Digeronimo. ‘We must face the challenge and start looking at alternative providers to compete and become cheaper than Houston.’ And the key to success, he says, ‘is to have more efficient terminals and barges.’ Most of the bunkers traded in Panama come from Houston, Ecuador, sometimes Venezuela and the Caribbean.
Although bunker storage capacity is 7.2m bbl, investments in the existing terminals and those being built should reach 10.6m bbl capacity in 2012.
CEPSA
when Panama’s market opened to foreign companies. CEPSA Panama provides bunker fuel services to its customers on both sides of the Panama Canal through the Balboa and Cristobal ports. Supplies are made directly through pipelines, by trucks and above all, by barge service and the company is amongst the largest bunker suppliers of the Panama Canal area. CEPSA Panama has storage facilities of 350,000bbl in the Pacific side and 150,000 bbl in the Atlantic side. Within
the last two years the company has revamped its fleet of chartered barges into double hull and increased capacity in order to improve service and comply with local double hull regulations which will be in force in 2012. CEPSA operates three exclusive double hull barges with capacities from 4,000dwt to 3,000dwt.
CEPSA, is constantly working on finding the best formulas combining its musts: service and quality.
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‘Inefficient storage facilities and the lack of pier space discourage customers; time is money. Today tankers bringing fuel to Panama for sale can wait up to two weeks to get a berth to discharge cargo on the Atlantic side,’ says a source in the industry. But that will change soon since foreign and domestic investors have focused on the construction of new terminals to provide increased capacity and modern installations. ‘It is going to be a whole different game in Panama [thanks to the future terminals],’ says Digeronimo.
Spain-based CEPSA gm Javier De La Rosa agrees: ‘Future storage capacity could be used for the marine or domestic market as well as for re-exportation, which may reduce import costs causing a positive effect on the economics of the product and make Panama a more competitive bunker location.’ The construction of Melones Oil Terminal, a $80m Panamanian venture with the latest-spec tank farm being built on a 38,700sq mtr island located 15km
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