Marine fuel provider and trader Cockett Marine Oil is to extend its operations by setting up a physical bunker supply facility in the Thames Estuary. Two product tankers have been chartered from Belgian tanker owner Lauranne Shipping to provide the service.
Both vessels – ‘LS Anne’ and ‘LS Jamie’ – are being converted into bunker tankers at a Belgian shipyard, which includes the fitting of Yokohama fenders.
The service, which is due to start on 1st September, will be based on three anchorage slots in the Queen’s Channel, near Margate Roads. The area affords good weather protection from the prevailing westerly winds.
The area comes under the jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority (PLA), which has already carried out a thorough risk assessment of the operation.
Robert Thompson, Cockett’s general manager, supply and business development, explained that the idea was to offer a full bunkers only service to vessels passing through the English Channel, as well as the Thames Estuary.
It was not the intention to compete with the ARA range, he stressed. A storage depot is being readied on Canvey Island and an emergency response capability complete with boats and skimmers will be located at Ramsgate.
Once the service is established, the bunker specialist, which is now part of the Grindrod group, will seek to design, build and operate its own fleet of vessels.
Grindrod has been involved in the tanker sector for some years through its Unicorn subsidiary.
Both vessels – ‘LS Anne’ and ‘LS Jamie’ – are being converted into bunker tankers at a Belgian shipyard, which includes the fitting of Yokohama fenders.
The service, which is due to start on 1st September, will be based on three anchorage slots in the Queen’s Channel, near Margate Roads. The area affords good weather protection from the prevailing westerly winds.
The area comes under the jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority (PLA), which has already carried out a thorough risk assessment of the operation.
Robert Thompson, Cockett’s general manager, supply and business development, explained that the idea was to offer a full bunkers only service to vessels passing through the English Channel, as well as the Thames Estuary.
It was not the intention to compete with the ARA range, he stressed. A storage depot is being readied on Canvey Island and an emergency response capability complete with boats and skimmers will be located at Ramsgate.
Once the service is established, the bunker specialist, which is now part of the Grindrod group, will seek to design, build and operate its own fleet of vessels.
Grindrod has been involved in the tanker sector for some years through its Unicorn subsidiary.