INDUSTRY - GIBRALTAR REPORT

TaNKErOperator l November / December 201606

Bunkering activityincreases in the Bay

The volume of bunkers handled at Gibraltar’s Western Anchorage increased last year for thefirst time in a number years.

T hus far this year, despite thebackdrop of a challengingshipping market, the volumesare similar to 2015, Captain of

the Port, Commodore Bob Sanguinetti toldTanker Operator.

Since new tariffs were introduced forvessels using the Eastern anchorage acouple of years ago, occupancy has goneup by over 50%, while the number ofvessels calling ‘off port limits’ rose byaround 10%.

according to figures produced byGibraltar Port authority (GPa), a total of5,571 vessels arrived for bunkers at the

Westernanchorage lastyear and thenumber up to 6thSeptember thisyear was 3,700.

Vessel callingat the Easternanchorage forvarious servicesnumbered 188and those makinguse of the ‘off

limits’ services totalled 1,136 last year.Vessels undertaking commercial ship-to-

ship transfers (STS) in Gibraltar waterstotalled 32, which does not include thebunker operations.

Up to the beginning of September thisyear, the number of vessels visiting theEastern anchorage was 172 and thosecalling ‘off limits’ was 808. CommercialSTS transfer operations numbered 21 andwas described as “steady” by CommodoreSanguinetti.

The bunker tankers operated by the fourmain marine fuel suppliers are exemptfrom the IMO rules on STS, as they aredeemed to be lifting fuel to be used onboard ship.

GPA’s Commodore BobSanguinetti

• Largest bunker hub in the Mediterranean• Quality controlled bunkers delivered by experienced operators• Increased anchorage slots• • Reduced anchorage fees• Quick turnaround times

North Mole, Gibraltar Tel: +350 20046254, Fax: +350 20051513gpaenquiries@port.gov.giwww.gibraltarport.com

om.ctporaltaribr.gwww

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Over a year ago, the GPa increased thenumber of slots available in the Westernanchorage to 14, an increase of 20%.Commodore Sanguinetti explained that theGPa was making more use of limited spaceand together with better vessel flowmanagement, the waiting times for slotshave been reduced dramatically, illustratedby over 80% of vessels anchoring withintwo hours of their declared arrival time.

The use of mass flow meters (MFM) tobetter regulate quantity issues has been inthe news recently led by Singapore, whichhas decided to make their use mandatorynext year. More recently, CEPSa hasconfirmed that it is to fit its bunker bargesoperating in algeciras Bay and theGibraltar Straits with MFMs.

Commodore Sanguinetti said that theGPa had been in discussions with thesuppliers but saw no overwhelming need tofit the equipment at this stage, as therewere very few quantity disputes atGibraltar. “We have a very good workingrelationship with the four suppliers, butwe’re nevertheless reviewing therequirement,” he stressed.

at the time of writing, the GPa washosting IBIa’s annual bunker conference,which was the first such conference to beheld following the IMO’s announcementthat 2020 would be the date for theenforcement of the 0.5% sulphur cap.“This is an opportunity to promoteGibraltar to the wider world,” CommodoreSanguinetti said, who earlier this yearbecame an IBIa board member.

Space is always at a premium atGibraltar and earlier this year the GibraltarGovernment invited proposals for thedesign and construction of a land fuelstorage facility.

This is an issue which has been ongoingfor some time and in addition, recently anagreement was signed with Shell toevaluate the possibility of bunkering LNGin the next two to three years.

also ongoing is a plan for the pipelinesupply of fuel to the jetties within the port,which mainly handle cruise ships, superyachts and smaller commercial vessels.

Large investmentas part of a several million poundinvestment programme, last august, it wasannounced that Kongsberg Norcontrol(KNC) had been awarded a contract tosupply the GPa’s new Vessel TrafficServices (VTS) system.

The VTS will be housed in a new Port

Tower building to be located at LathburyBarracks, which will also be the GPa’sheadquarters. The authority will also keepa presence within the port area.

Once in service, which is scheduled forthe late summer of next year, the new VTSwill monitor the busy approaches toGibraltar Bay.

To operate the new system, a trainingpackage was agreed with KNC as part ofthe overall contract. Separately, threerecruits haverecentlyqualified asVTS operatorsafter attendinga seven-weekintensivetraining courseat SouthTynesideCollege, nearNewcastle,UK.

This coursecovered VHFradio, radarand VTStraining beforea finalassessmentwas held atthe college.They weretrained onKNCequipment tofamiliarisethemselveswith thesystem.

against thebackdrop ofBrEXIT, andnot wishing tobe drawn onthe politics,Commodore

Sanguinetti said that despite the generaluncertainty following the BrEXIT votethere had been no change in activity.

He went on to state that, ‘regardless ofany developments, Gibraltar’s strategiclocation will clearly remain unchanged,and we will work closely with the shippingcommunity to identify opportunities wherewe can maximise our support to vesselscalling here’.

During the Gibraltar Chief Minister’s

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speech at the opening of the recent IBIaannual Convention, he announced that theGPa had joined the Society for Gas as aMarine Fuel (SGMF).

Speaking to over 150 delegates, theChief Minister said that he was delightedto see the port playing its part in thisexciting development in the shippingworld.

SGMF is a non-governmentalorganisation (NGO) established to promotesafety and industry best practice in the useof gas as a marine fuel. Today, the societyhas over 100 members, including keyports, such as Singapore, rotterdam, andsome of the most well known suppliers andoperators in this field.

Gibraltar’s Minister for MaritimeServices, the Hon Gilbert Licudi QCadded; “This represents a key step for thePort authority, allowing it to draw on thetechnical expertise and experience presentin SGMF as it considers the possibility ofLNG bunkering in the future.”

Commodore Sanguinetti said;“Education, training and development ofkey skills for GPa specialists are

fundamental to our business. Membershipof SGMF will open up considerablelearning opportunities in the field of LNGin the shipping environment.”

Of course, bunkering is not the onlyservice offered on the ‘rock’. It is alsohome to a thriving shipping registry whichis a member of the UK’s red EnsignGroup.

as at the middle of November, therewere 293 vessels entered of 2.7 mill gt. Ofthese, 59 are oil/chemical tankers andanother 23 are oil tankers, the registrar ofships for the Gibraltar Maritimeadministration, Maria antonia Baglietto,told Tanker Operator.

Shiprepair is another service offeredwith three drydocks and afloat repairfacilities managed by Gibdock.

Last year, the yard opened what it calledPad 1, which is an area specially designedfor conversion and retrofit projects,including fabrication.

Pad 1 adjoins the 435 m long south molewaterfront, which has an 11 m draftalongside, and includes a load-out quay.Craneage can also be used. It was built to

provide Gibdock with an additional 2,940sq m of prime space on which loads of upto 12 tonnes per metre can be handled.

When it opened, Gibdock said that it wasmarketing Pad 1 for projects such asexhaust gas cleaning and ballast watersystems. The latter has come intoprominence since the Ballast WaterManagement Convention was ratified bythe IMO in September, meaning thatthousands of vessels need to be retrofittedwith BWTS.

The site is conveniently locatedalongside Gibdock’s Panamax dimensioneddrydock and allows the ability to pre-fabricate substantial sections of a projectand assemble specialist equipment prior toa vessel’s arrival, optimising the‘downtime’ of a vessel throughout theproject installation.

Electrical supplier and service companySandvik is active around Gibraltar andalgeciras.

The company’s world service managerJohn King told Tanker Operator that lastyear, the company has added BV andClassNK to its list of class approvals for

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INDUSTRY - GIBRALTAR REPORT

radio, aIS, EPIrB and VDr surveys andalso added Navico/Simrad to its agencylists along with Entel equipment.

Sandvik also joined the InternationalShip Engineering Service association(ISES) and King said work has remainedsteady with a lot of drydockings and salesof new equipment.

In addition, the company has receivedrequests for repairs to keep older bridgeequipment operating, which is somethingSandvik specialises in, King explained.

Newcomera recent newcomer to the ‘rock’ is start-up company Trafalgar Navigation,which is a marine consultancy,specialising in providing navigationalaudits and inspections and run byfounder Mark Bull.

He explained that the target marketwas the tanker segment but he wasalready seeing owners with mixed fleetsusing this service. Bull explained thatthe trigger for these inspections wasTMSa Element 5 stage 4, whichrecommended the use of a suitablyqualified company to carry outnavigational audits.

as there is no standard, Bull said thathe had spent a considerable amount oftime in creating an in-depth assessmentscheme. This has been coupled with atotally new approach to auditing fornavigation as it takes place when thevessel is at sea.

The objective is a loss preventionassessment to identify leadingindicators and put in measures toprevent navigational incidents. Thesystem allows comparison betweenships of the same company or fleet andalso between companies.

Even in the early stages, this hasalready identified common problemsbetween ships widely separated by bothship type, age and geographically areaof operation. a database is beingconstructed to hold the findings.

The introduction of ECDIS has hadan impact on the audits because it ischanging the way the navigation bridgeis being operated, Bull explained.ECDIS is new for everyone -regulators, trainers, managers,manufacturers and inspectors – and theimportant phase now is feedback fromthe ships themselves.

The ideal amount of time for theseaudits or assessments is between three

to five days and this leads to a problem –especially for a tanker operator – as tryingto plan for such a voyage in advance andbook an auditor is very difficult.

a solution to this is choosing a pointthat ships pass close by where the ETa iswell known in advance. The auditor canthen board by launch and continue to thedestination port. Hence the choice ofGibraltar, which is located at one of theworld’s major shipping crossroads andprovides many and varied opportunitiesclose by for boarding ships. Voyages canbe made into the Mediterranean, to the

Canary Islands or north towards Europe.Similarly, voyages in reverse can be madeallowing the auditor to disembark atGibraltar.

The plan is to have auditors located atthe major crossroads around the world, andalready one has been appointed in thenorthern Far East. It is hoped to haveanother in Singapore by the year end andthe US Gulf by early 2017. all of theauditors have vessel command experienceand additional qualifications andexperience in auditing and or vetting,explained Bull.

Offering comprehensive ship repair, maintenance & conversions in its three dry docks & deep water port.

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