Aerial photo taken on April 6, 2020 shows oil tank area at Hambantota International Port, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka-China joint venture, Hambantota International Port (HIP), is set to kick off fuel bunkering operations and support COVID-19 affected supply chains after a ship finished discharging low-sulphur fuel into the port's tanks on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Liu Hongru/Xinhua)
COLOMBO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka-China joint venture, Hambantota International Port (HIP), is set to kick off fuel bunkering operations and support COVID-19 affected supply chains after a ship finished discharging low-sulphur fuel into the port's tanks on Tuesday afternoon.
The Marshall Islands-based Mt. Melody bunkering ship arrived at HIP on Thursday (April 2) and departed on Tuesday after discharging up to 25,000 MT of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) 380 CST into HIP's newly refurbished tanks.
Unloading of the 183-meter long ship took 20 hours of work, and special health and safety precautions were taken by staff due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
Ray Ren, CEO of Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG), said that the port will now be able to supply low-sulphur fuel for cargo ships and fishing vessels, and support international supply chains that have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fuel bunkering services are also expected to deliver a much needed boost to the Sri Lankan economy which has been negatively affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
HIPG COO Tissa Wickramasinghe said that the port has invested in refurbishing its tank farms to Lloyds standards.
He added that the port has partnered with Chinese giant Sinopec (China Petrochemical Corporation) to train local staff up to international standards and to source fuel that meets the International Maritime Organization (IMO) low-sulphur standards.
"HIP aims to become the bunkering hub of the region and will work with Sinopec and the local bunker suppliers to make this a reality," Wickramasinghe said.
In October 2018, HIP partnered with LAUGFS Gas for storage and transshipment of liquefied petroleum gas.
Oil and gas supply is a critical part of the HIP's portfolio. The port currently has two 100,000 ton oil and gas berths, an oil gas tank area of about 140,000 cubic meters, and a fully fledged oil testing laboratory.
HIP is located at the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Operation of HIP was handed over on a 99-year lease to two Sri Lanka-China joint ventures in 2017, HIPG and Hambantota International Ports Services (HIPS).
