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The JCT Ltd. Oil Bank, a fully owned subsidiary of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), has received its first cargo of marine fuel for storage, according to local media reports.

Lanka Maritime Services Ltd., one of the bunker licence holders in Colombo, is set to begin discharging a parcel of almost 6500 tonnes of bunker fuel at the tank farm for storage. The Tanker Nipaiya is expected to berth at the Dolphin Tanker Berth to commence the process of transferring the cargo of 380-centistoke (cst) and 180-cst fuel to the facility's storage tanks.

JCT Ltd. Oil Bank, which earlier this month took over the tank farm previously occupied by Lanka Marine Services (LMS) following a court ruling, is said to have already entered into agreements with seven of the eight bunker licence holders for shared use of the storage facility.

Licence holder Lanka IOC Plc. has reportedly said that it will commence bunker supply operations in October. Speaking to The Sunday Times yesterday, Managing Director K. Ramakrishnan claimed that the company will store 8,000 tonnes of bunker fuel at the Bloemendhal Road oil storage complex.

According to officials at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), approximately 30,000 tonnes of marine fuel can be stored at the tank farm at any one time. This amount would therefore cater for roughly two months of bunker demand in Colombo, which is currently at 15,000 tonnes per month.

The total capacity of the tank farm complex would therefore limit storage to 3750 tonnes per supplier if all bunker suppliers were given the same storage space. However, following reports that both Lanka Maritime Services and Lanka IOC will surpass this amount, it would appear that not all bunker licence holders will be given the same storage capacity.

With monthly fuel bills of over US$2.5 million needed to purchase 3750 tonnes of marine fuel for storage, some shipping experts question how long many of the current licence holders will be able to afford to consistently buy these amounts and also invest in barges and cover monthly vessel operating expenses. Some of these companies may find it difficult to operate in the long run, market sources say.

Meanwhile, as reported by Bunker Index earlier this month, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is preparing to invite expressions of interest from companies to modernize the Bloemendhal Road facility and replace old pipelines. Local sources say that the SLPA aims to have the old pipelines replaced by the end of this year.