Euronav signed a formal agreement with Malaysia’s Linggi Port Tuesday making it its supply base for low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) East of Suez.
The agreement makes good on Malaysia’s ambitions to develop its maritime and bunkering industries, port operator TAG Marine Sdn Bhd said in a statement
The deal between Euronav and Linggi Port comes little more than a month after the tanker owner’s 441,561-dwt Oceania (built 2003) arrived off Malaysia.
Euronav has deployed the ULCC as floating storage to supply its fleet with LSFO ahead of tightening specifications from 2020 onwards.
Financial terms of the agreement, which also covers related services including supplying crews and provisions, were not disclosed.
Oil analytics firm Vortexa recently reported that a fleet of close to 30 tankers are being used for floating storage off Malaysia and Singapore.
TradeWinds reported late last month that Ocean Tankers had emerged as the top player in floating oil storage off the Malaysian coast, with at least eight of its VLCCs being used to store LSFO ahead of IMO 2020.
According to data from Kpler and VesselsValue, the shipping arm of Singaporean trading house Hin Leong has deployed eight VLCCs to stockpile IMO-compliant LSFO and blending components and one to store an unspecified grade of fuel oil.
