Europe and Africa Bunker Fuel Availability Outlook:
VLSFO and LSMGO grades are plentiful across Europe and Africa, while pockets of tightness for HSF380 remain in the Mediterranean and Black Sea this week.
ARA and Gibraltar Strait ports have readily available supplies of all grades, and lead times for HSFO380 are around 2-3 days, which is still significantly lower than in other major ports such as Singapore and Fujairah.
Bunker congestion is minimal in Gibraltar, Algeciras and Ceuta. Four vessels were waiting to bunker in Gibraltar and a supplier was running 4-6 hours behind on its barge schedule on Wednesday.
Bouts of bad weather are on the horizon for Gibraltar Strait ports. Strong winds from the west and high swell could disrupt bunkering at Gibraltar’s western anchorage from Thursday afternoon, according to port agency MH Bland. The rough weather is forecast to intensify in strength on Friday, before calming on Saturday.
Shell Puts Gibraltar on Global LNG Map:
Gibraltar is an important addition to Shell’s portfolio as it is one of the biggest ship bunkering locations in Europe.
Bunkering is Big Business in Gibraltar:
https://intercop.es/bunkering-gibraltar-port/
Bunkering. With an annual turnover of over 1.5 million tonnes, Cepsa Gib is now the main importer and distributor of marine bunker fuels to over 3000 ships annually. Our products now account for around 40 percent of the Port of Gibraltar's market, and 20 percent of the Strait of Gibraltar market – cepsagib.com/about/bunkering
Gibraltar's unique geographic location overlooking the strait of Gibraltar has enabled local bunkering companies to build on the rock's position as an important bunkering location in the western Mediterranean. From our head office we coordinate bunkering services in Gibraltar – Turner Shipping: http://www.turnershipping.com/port-agency/bunkering/
It also is part of Gibraltar's own energy sector:
In 2019 a new, modern power station situated at the North Mole commenced operation running long term on liquid natural gas (LNG).
Once, Gibraltar's energy needs were 100% powered by marine diesel - so, Gib opted to switch from diesel to liquefied natural gas (LNG). An advanced arrangement of a gas-fired power station with an LNG hub which will serve as the basis of the island's future power supply at the new power station is on the North Mole in Gibraltar Harbor,