Aegean NWE NV, the Antwerp-based representative of the Aegean Marine Petroleum Group, has announced that it is now able to supply ultra-low-sulphur fuel oil (
ULSFO) in all Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (
ARA) ports, including
Zeebrugge,
Aegean indicated that ULSFO fuels are available across the full range of ARA ports with immediate effect.
"We are responding to increased levels of demand for ULSFO from our clients in the region" said
Tony Vertommen, Regional Manager of Aegean NWE.
"The ability to offer ULSFO further strengthens our position in all ARA ports, giving us the flexibility to meet our customers' demands across all fuel grades."
Aegean NWE says its fleet of 16 inland, estuary and deep sea-going bunker barges ranks it as the largest independent physical supplier in the ports of the ARA region.
Vertommen remarked: "Aegean is viewed as a market leader and the most responsive supplier when it comes to meeting our clients' requirements. The step into the supply of ULSFO underlines our commitment to the market at a time when all players in the bunker market are mindful of the need to procure compliant fuels in the run up to 2020."
Earlier this year, in January, Aegean
launched a service center in Rostock following the acquisition of
OBAST Bunkering & Trading GmbH, a physical bunker supplier and oil cargo trader. The new operation serves all German ports in the
Baltic Sea and also covers southern Scandinavia.
This week, rival supplier Bomin confirmed affirmed its commitment to Rostock and the Baltic region, with the company's Hamburg office now taking responsibility for physical operations and infrastructure in the region.
Aegean's ULSFO ARA announcement, meanwhile, comes three months after Bomin strengthened its physical operation in the ARA region by time-chartering two bunker barges.
Aegean is the world's largest independent supplier of marine fuels and lubricants.
In 2016, the company's sales jumped 3,046,601 metric tonnes, or 22.6 percent, to 16,519,079 tonnes, up from 13,482,478 tonnes in 2015.
Sales from bunker trading alone during the fourth quarter of 2016 were at 512,000 metric tonnes - 12.9 percent of Aegean's total sales (3,954,700 tonnes).
