Fendercare Marine, one of the world’s biggest ship-to-ship (STS) cargo transfer service providers, is opening its services in Southeast Asia by bringing its operation to Subic Bay.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia said that among the investment projects approved by the SBMA board of directors recently was Fendercare’s proposal for ship-to-ship transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
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| A world leader in ship-to-ship transfers, Fendercare operates from a global network of over 50 bases |
The operations, Garcia said, will generate a minimum of P50 million a year in terms of port use only. This does not include indirect fees like payment for tugboats, chandlers, bunkering, and food supplies, Garcia added.
Jerome Martinez, manager of the SBMA Seaport Department, said the company is planning to start its operation in Subic Bay in the last week of September this year.
In connection with this, he said that Fendercare Marine business development manager William Barker and the company's Asia Pacific commercial manager Capt. George Mills recently conducted an orientation for Subic stakeholders to answer queries and concerns related to the their operations in Subic Bay.
“It is because of the location, the logistics available, and the assistance that the company is receiving from SBMA that Fendercare Marine has chosen Subic as the location for its operation in Asia,” Barker said during the briefings.
Barker noted that the operation would initially involve two ships: MV LNG Excel, a mother ship anchored at Subic Bay and loaded with LNG from Australia, which it would feed to MV LNG Lerici, a daughter ship, which in turn would deliver the cargo to Asian destinations, especially China.
The same officials also briefed fisherfolk in the coastal communities of Subic, Zambales, and Olongapo City on the project.
In the said briefings, Fendercare representatives also allayed fears of adverse environmental impact, saying that LNG is a very safe form of fuel that is why it is widely used in Japan where one shipload of LNG is said to be unloaded every 20 hours.
“It burns slowly, evaporates rapidly, and does not mix with water or kill fish or any other marine life. LNG is very environmental-friendly,” company officials said.
Fendercare Marine, which is a part of James Fisher and Sons plc, has been awarded a certificate of excellence for STS operations throughout 2015 for its exemplary safety record without any environmental accident since it began STS services in 2013, involving LNG transfer.
The company has provided ship-to-ship services to the oil and shipping industries globally since 1995. Today these services are provided from a global network of 50 bases, currently handling in excess of 2,800 transfers a year, the company website said. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)
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