The trial process of unloading fuel oil from large tankers in anchorage at sea underway. A tanker carrying imported oil was moored at a designated point in the deep sea yesterday at 4:00pm in the afternoon. The process of connecting the pipeline to the tanker then began.
The port officials assisting in the process said that the process of unloading oil from the tanker to the pipeline is almost at its final stage. Oil transferring may start late night or Monday morning.
Eastern Refinery, operated by the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), is currently implementing a project to transfer oil from large vessels to the refinery using pipelines in the Bay of Bengal. As part of the project's trial, moorings have been installed in the sea. Recently, the project reached a significant milestone with the pumping of oil into the pipeline from the 82,000-tonne crude oil tanker MT Horae, which was imported from Saudi Arabia.
While Eastern Refinery is implementing this project, it is providing all the support including moving tankers to mooring points, piloting tankers and three tugboats for discharging fuel oil.
During the visit to the mooring point at sea, it was observed that the marine department team of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) was actively engaged in the process. Three tugboats belonging to the port were present in close proximity. Overseeing the entire procedure from one of the tugboats was Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail, the port chairman. After approximately an hour, the tanker's rope was successfully secured to the mooring point. A port tugboat was positioned behind the tanker.
The CPA chairman told reporters that the port is providing full support to this initiative of unloading oil from the pipeline. The country took another step towards Smart Bangladesh by using this technology in unloading oil instead of using tradition method. It will reduce the time and cost as well as avoid the environmental damage caused by the transfer of oil in small vessels.
According to port officials, due various limitations in the Chittagong Port, large tankers could not directly access the specialised jetty in the Karnaphuli river. The large tankers carrying fuel oil are initially anchored in the sea. Subsequently, the oil is transferred from these tankers to the jetty using smaller lighterage vessels and finally transferring through pipes. Previously, the process of unloading oil from a 100,000-tonne tanker used to take around 10-11 days.
In 2015, the construction of a 'single point mooring' or floating jetty project was initiated to address the high cost and time involved in the traditional oil unloading method. Eastern Refinery Limited is implementing this project, which has undergone three phases of extension, leading to a total cost of Tk 71.25 billion.
This project is being executed under a Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement between Bangladesh and China. Under the new project, it will be possible to offload about 100,000 tonnes of fuel oil through the pipeline in just two days.
Officials of the Eastern Refinery said that a single point mooring has been installed in the Bay of Bengal six kilometres west of Kalamarchhara union parishad coast of Maheshkhali. From this point, oil will be transported through two separate pipelines of 36 inch diameter to the pump station and tank farm at Kalamarchara. There are six tanks with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes. From there, the oil will be brought to the Eastern Refinery at Patenga through a pipeline.
According to the managing director of Eastern Refinery, Md Lokman, once the oil is offloaded, it will be transferred to the Eastern Refinery in Patenga, Chattogram through a 110 km long pipeline. The pipeline system comprises one for crude oil and another for refined diesel release. Upon the full-scale implementation of this project, it is estimated that it will save Tk 8 billion annually. This significant development marks a new era for Bangladesh in unloading fuel oil.
The Eastern Refinery, operating under the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), currently imports 1.4 million tonnes of crude oil each year. However, with the commissioning of the second oil refining unit at the Eastern Refinery, the annual crude oil imports are projected to increase to 4.5 million tonnes. Presently, 4.2 million tonnes of diesel is being imported, and the import volume is increasing every year. Through the pipeline installed under the project, 9 million tonnes of fuel oil can be unloaded annually.