HIP launches landmark services on East-West Maritime Route

Hambantota International Port (HIP) achieved another milestone in their multi services portfolio when they launched the wholesale supply of marine bunker fuels, together with their strategic partner Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka Limited (SFOL).

Local company Lanka Marine Services (LMS), market leader in the Sri Lankan bunker supply industry, was SOFL’s first buyer, carrying out an offshore bunkering operation with the support of HIP. LMS supplied IMO 2020 compliant Very Low Sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) to their client, crude oil tanker m.v. Suez Hans, which was on route to the Suez from Chennai. The tanker refueled at the Hambantota Port anchorage via oil barge m.v. Kumana, chartered to LMS by HIP, to handle the bunker supply.

“This is a great opportunity for all Sri Lankan licensed Bunker Suppliers who are involved in supplying bunkers for vessels calling at any port in Sri Lanka or plying the busy East-West Shipping route. Through our partnership with Sinopec, one of the largest global players trading VLSFO, they are well positioned to give competitive prices to attract vessels. This is a new and dynamic change in the bunkering supply market in Sri Lanka. With Sinopec entering the local market as a wholesaler the doors are now open to tap into the economies of scale this global giant can provide. With the competitive prices they are offering, Sri Lanka can capture a larger regional market share of supplying bunkering for vessels, which will help all local players in this market to expand. International trade is all about building synergies and creating opportunity, and this is a very good example of that,” Tissa Wickremasinghe, Chief Operating Officer of HIPG said.