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Turkish physical bunker supplier, Energy Petrol Shipping Trade Industry Inc., has confirmed the addition of its latest newbuild double-hulled 1750-deadweight-tonne (dwt) bunker barge, the MT Demre 6.

As a result of the addition, Energy Petrol now serves its clients with a total of 11 tankers, including the vessels MT Demre 2, MT Demre 3, MT Demre 4 and MT Demre 6. The MT Demre 2 and MT Demre 3 were constructed in 2013, whilst the 810-dwt MT Demre 4 was built in 2014.

The previously owned MT Demre 1, which was also built in 2013, was recently sold to a third party, as was the MT Demre 5 - a vessel that was only fully constructed a few months ago.

Energy Petrol also operates the Deniz M, which is said to be the biggest bunker barge in service in Istanbul. The 2001-built 3659-dwt vessel (previously named MT Safir) was acquired last year by the Turkish supplier to mainly carry out cargo replenishments.

The four MT Demre barges are able to carry intermediate fuel oil (IFO) and marine gas oil (MGO) at the same time.

An additional two newbuild vessels - the MT Demre 7 and MT Demre 8 - are currently under construction.

In a statement, Mustafa Muhtaroglu, founder and CEO, said that the company had achieved a "20 percent growth" during the first six months of 2015 and was "investing along with our growing business". It follows a statement in September, which said that the company had increased sales in Istanbul during the first half of 2014 - following a decline in the Istanbul bunker market between 2012 and 2013 - and its market share had risen to 15 percent.

Muhtaroglu also explained today that Energy Petrol's barge renewal programme was partly due to tanker regulations phasing out old tankers over time.

"We are proud of providing [a] high-quality, fast, efficient and very on-time service to our clients, and new barges will increase our performance," he added.