Monjasa boosts Cartagena bunker operations with BIRE-qualified barges

Bunker supplier Monjasa has strengthened its physical supply operations in Colombia, with two barges operating in Cartagena passing the oil companies' barge inspection scheme, Monjasa’s trading director Americas, Camilo Angulo Ferrand, told ENGINE.

IMAGE: Cruise ship, cranes and containers at the pier of the Port of Cartagena, Colombia. Getty Images

With this development, Monjasa has increased its "ownership across the Cartagena supply chain, giving us [the company] direct control from sourcing at oil well processing or refineries, through storage and blending, all the way to final ship-to-ship delivery," Ferrand said.

The move includes bunker barges Roma 101 and Roma 304 successfully passing inspection under the Barge Inspection Report Exchange (BIRE), qualifying them to collaborate with oil majors.

“Colombia is a country that exports crude regularly, and therefore there's a need to cater for a customer segment requiring a higher standard on the fleet they will accept for bunkering, such as oil major,” the Monjasa representative added.

A BIRE involves the sharing of inspection findings and vessel-condition reports between a bunker supplier and customer before or after a barge operation. It is a standardised vessel inspection database managed by the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), an association of global oil and energy companies.

Both barges are already active in the Cartagena market, where they regularly perform bunker deliveries. Monjasa currently supplies HSFO, VLSFO, MGO and customised biofuel blends through its Cartagena operation.

By Tuhin Roy

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