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Cockett Marine Oil is planning to establish a bunker supply operation in the Thames Estuary, according to industry sources.

The UK-based firm is understood to be in the process of converting two product tankers - LS Anne and LS Jamie - into bunker tankers in preparation for the launch of the new service, which is scheduled to commence at the beginning of September.

The vessel conversion process will include the fitting of Yokohama fenders at a Belgian shipyard, market sources said.

The new bunker supply service will be based at three anchorage slots in the Queen's Channel, near Margate Roads, with Cockett planing to offer a full bunkers-only service to ships passing through the English Channel, as well as the Thames Estuary.

Cockett's new bunkering operation will aim to complement its existing activities in the ARA region. In May 2010, the company's owner Grindrod Ltd. announced the acquisition of Dutch bunker supplier Associated Bunkeroil Contractors B.V. (ABC Bunkeroils), a physical supplier in the ARA region carrying out deliveries in the ports of Rotterdam, Europport, Antwerp and Amsterdam and in the secondary ports of IJmuiden, Velzen, Den Helder, Dordrecht, Flushing, Terneuzen, Ghent and Zeebrugge.

Cockett Marine Oil was reported to be taking on ABC's trading activities, whilst Grindrod’s shipping division was understood to be managing ABC’s barge operations.

‘The acquisition provides a base from which Cockett Marine can further enhance its position in the Rotterdam market,’ Laurence Stuart-Hill, director of Grindrod, said at the time.

South African freight and logistics specialist Grindrod first acquired a 50% share in Cocket Marine Oil in July 2005.

Established more than twenty years ago, with offices in United Kingdom, Singapore, South Africa, United States, Monaco, Russia, Brazil and Panama, Cockett Marine Oil is one of the world's leading traders and suppliers of bunkers and marine lubricants to shipowners, operators, managers, charterers and private owners around the globe.

The company currently supplies in the region of 5 million tonnes of marine fuel and lubricants per annum and has a turnover of approximately $1 billion.