Arab Finance: Mercuria Energy Group’s marine fuel supplier Minerva Bunkering started providing refueling services to vessels in Egypt after being awarded a bunkering license earlier this month, Bloomberg reported on May 30th.
Minerva has delivered fuel to 10 bunkers in Egypt and is currently using a 150,000-deadweight-ton (DWT) Suezmax tanker as floating storage, in addition to five bunker tankers to refuel vessels.
The license handed to the firm allows it to operate in Egypt’s northern and southern ports and the Suez Canal’s convoy waiting areas, CEO Tyler Baron said in a phone interview.
“There is obviously a lot of potential just given the attributes of the market – the density of freight volume, it is uniquely positioned in between East and West in terms of pricing centers and then probably the biggest advantage is that shipping companies can take on fuel while awaiting their canal transit with no lost time,” Baron commented.
In this regard, Minerva Bunkering is the first international ship-refueling business to operate in the Egyptian market.
