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The
beleaguered Westport Bunkering
Services Sdn Bhd has been saved by
Port Klang Authority which paid
RM65.3 million to Petronas Dagang
Bhd – the majority stakeholder in
the company - to take over its 70
per cent stake in the company set up
four years ago to supply bunker fuel
at wharf side for ships calling at
Port Klang.
The
conclusion of the protracted
negotiation paves the way for
Westport Holdings, which held 30 per
cent stake in Westport Bunkering
Services (Webs), to salvage the
situation and restore the first
onshore bunkering facility in the
country.
It
is not clear whether will Westport
Holding, the holding company of
Kelang Multi Terminal Sdn Bhd, the
concession operator of Westport, pay
PKA to take full equity control over
Webs which was show-cased as Port
Klang’s foray into the bunkering
market before it floundered.
The
decision by Petronas Dagang Bhd to
sell off its stake in Webs stems
from its inability to operate the
company viably and competition posed
by Singapore, world’s number one
bunker supplier.
The
company, which is engaged in
supplying bunker fuel at other
selected ports in the country, said
reported losses from the bunkering
operation at Port Klang.
Its
discussion with the joint venture
partner, namely Westport Holding, to
restructure the company took nowhere
and instead PKA was brought into the
picture to “help out”.
Webs,
which chartered two barges of 3,000
and 1,000 tonnes capacity each for
the bunkering operation, was
supplying three kinds of fuel oil
– 380cts, 180 cst and marine gas
oil to vessels before operation was
halted.
Though
in the first year of operation Webs
supplied about 200,000 tonnes of
fuel oil it was not able to defend
its prices since the 380 cts fuel
oil was imported from the Middle
East
Webs,
the first on shore bunkering
facility, has a total of 10 tanks
which are capable of storing about
200,000 tonnes of various fuel oil,
including four tanks for 380 cst,
two for 180 cts and one each
for marine diesel fuel and diesel
fuel.
Compared
with Webs, the other operators like
Bank Hoe Leong, Perniagan Kim Leong,
Syarikat Lean Ho and Rata Sempurna
traditionally supply bunker fuel via
barges.
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