Revolutionary change for Maldives economy: international bunkering begins

International bunkering services officially commences on Thursday at Ihavandhippolhu.

The new service, poised to bring revolutionary change to the Maldivian economy – a key vision of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu – will boost the country’s GDP according to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mohamed Saeed, who mentioned it an earlier statement.

Bunkering services at the Ihavandhippolhu facility was officially inaugurated in a special ceremony held in the region by upper-northern MPs. The ceremony was attended by Minister Saeed along with other senior officials of the government and the State Trading Organization (STO) Managing Director Shimad Ibrahim and board members.

The bunkering service has been introduced in the Maldives with the aim and scope of providing various services to the vessels that traverse across the Maldives from the northern channel.

STO, tasked with managing and operating the bunkering facility, earlier signed with Swiss-based Vitol; the largest independent energy trader in the world. The offshore bunkering services at Ihavandhippolhu will be provided with the support of Maldives Ports Limited (MPL), STO said in its statement.

STO will provide refueling and direct bunkering services to the vessels.

Besides bunkering, other services that will be provided at the facility include, according MPL CEO Mohamed Wajeeh:

• Pilotage services
• Crew change
• Ship-to-ship services
• Clean drinking water
• Food
• Diesel and lubricants
• Yacht docking
• Maintenance
• Underwater services
• Tugs
• Provision in the case of incident
• Removal of wastage on vessels

A 24-hour call center has been established to attract customers for bunkering services.

A total of two vessels – the 3,258-ton MT Marine Angel and the 3,929-ton MT Marine Bella – will be utilized for the bunkering services initially.