The Maldives is set to launch international bunkering services in its northern region on August 20.
Announcing the update, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed said that between 300 to 400 commercial vessels pass through the northern Maldives. If bunkering services are provided to even one percent of these vessels, it could contribute over US$ 400 million to the country’s GDP in the first year alone. Saeed said the project is aimed at ending the economy’s reliance on a single industry, he said.
In March, a term agreement was signed between the State Trading Organization (STO) and Vitol Group, one of the world’s largest energy companies, to provide these bunkering services in Ihavandhippolhu under the Maldives Economic Gateway project. Vitol, with offices in 40 countries, supplies 12 million tonnes of oil annually as bunker fuel and is the largest physical bunker supplier in the Middle East and a major supplier of bio-marine fuel in Singapore.
