Global marine fuel supplier Peninsula is expanding its presence in Middle East markets for conventional bunker fuels, while ramping up the supply of alternative fuels in other regions, a senior executive said.
“We have just launched new physical supply operations in Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali to complement our existing operation in Fujairah, so we are focused on building significant volume in those ports,” Kenny MacLean, Peninsula’s chief operating officer, told Reuters on the sidelines of SIBCON 2024 this week.
The company has secured bunker licences for both ports, adding to Peninsula’s services at more than 500 ports globally, said MacLean.
The re-routing of ships around South Africa due to the Red Sea crisis has boosted sales volumes in Mauritius and Las Palmas, as well as in the Western Mediterranean ports of Gibraltar and Algeciras.
“The deviations are now viewed as the ‘new normal’ by shipping traffic, so the demand has now been normalised,” he said.
The company is also preparing to boost the supply of alternative fuels amid industry efforts to cut emissions.
“Our specialist LNG bunkering vessel, Levante LNG, is operating in the Western Mediterranean, so we are naturally seeing demand there,” said MacLean.
“We are also providing LNG solutions in Southeast Asia, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, plus various other ports where customers have LNG requirements,” he added.
The company will focus its LNG bunker services on traditional shipping lanes and locations closer to LNG infrastructure and loading facilities.
Maclean also sees a significant increase in marine biofuel demand for 2025, particularly in the EU after emissions trading system and maritime environment regulations were tightened.
The company has chemical tankers which can supply any ratio of biofuel in line with customer requirements, he added.
Peninsula is working with third parties and investing in the development of methanol and ammonia bunkering, though material demand for these fuels is unlikely to emerge for now, said MacLean.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)