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M/T Brillante Virtuoso, a 149,601 deadweight tonne (dwt) Marshall Island-registered vessel, has made the first vessel call at Fujairah's new Oil Terminal 2 facility.

The new 1500-metre complex, which will become fully operational later this year, has a depth of 18 metres and will allow tankers of up to 180,000 deadweight fully loaded and VLCCs partially loaded to be handled.

Oil Terminal 2 is an addition to the 840-metre Oil Tanker Berth 1 facility, which has been operational since 2006.

Commenting on the maiden vessel call, Captain Mousa Morad General Manager of the port of Fujairah said “Today marks a very historic point for the Port of Fujairah. We have had the first call at our new modern and fully equipped second Oil Terminal 2 and we are handling the highest draft vessel so far received in Fujairah Port.

"Our berths have been built to service the growing number of oil storage facilities being established in Fujairah. This is a progressive and logical movement from our well established bunkering and trading Market .Our strategic location has attracted, and continues to attract, many professional and independent operators worldwide. We continue to assess requirements for further expansion.”

The Fujairah anchorage, which handled over 11,290 vessel calls in 2009, is ranked alongside Singapore and Rotterdam as one of the world's top 3 bunkering locations.

The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) project, scheduled to become operational later next year, is situated to the north of the port and will be serviced by 3 single-point moorings. All marine resources will be supplied by the port of Fujairah.