Gazpromneft Marine Bunker, part of Gazprom Neft, has concluded bunker supply agreements with cruise operators Royal Caribbean International and Saga Cruises.
As informed, the company will be managing approximately 60 bunkering operations for Royal Caribbean and Saga Cruises’ ships at St Petersburg’s Marine Façade passenger port during the summer navigation season.
Total sales of low-sulphur marine fuels under these contracts are expected to be around 55,000 tons.
Cruise vessels will be supplied with marine and hybrid oil products with sulphur content of less than 0.1 percent, produced at Gazprom Neft’s Moscow and Omsk Refineries. These environmentally-friendly marine fuels are designed for use in SECA emission control zones, and are compliant with new requirements under the international MARPOL Convention, according to Gazpromneft Marine Bunker.
“620,000 tourists visited the Northern Capital on cruise liners in 2018 alone. The trend in increasing passenger traffic shows the number of cruise liners visiting St Petersburg every year is only going to grow,” Andrei Vasiliev, CEO, Gazpromneft Marine Bunker, commented.
“Terminal infrastructure and our own bunkering fleet mean Gazpromneft Marine Bunker can meet maritime companies’ growing demand for high-technology oil products,” Vasiliev added.
Gazpromneft Marine Bunker sold approximately 800,000 tons of marine fuels in Q1 2019, a 25-percent increase year-on-year.
In the North-West and Black Sea regions, the company has market shares of 30 and 23 percent, respectively.
Sales of marine fuels at ports throughout Russia’s North-West Region reached 262,000 tons, an eight-percent increase year-on-year. The proportion of environmentally-friendly low-sulphur fuels, designed for use in SECA shipping zones, reached 18.7 percent of total sales at Baltic Sea ports, totaling 45,500 tons.
In addition, the company delivered 115,000 tons of marine fuels at ports throughout the Black Sea region between January and March this year.