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APM Terminals Pipavav has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aegis Logistics, a leader in oil, gas and chemical logistics, for the latter to construct a world class oil and petrochemicals storage complex on nearly 100 acres of land sub-leased from Port Pipavav.
According to Exim News Service, the MoU was signed and the documents exchanged, during a joint press interaction here on Tuesday, by Mr Prakash Tulsiani, Managing Director of APM Terminals Pipavav, and Mr S. O. Malhotra, President (Commercial), Aegis Logistics, in the presence of Mr Dinesh Lal, Senior Director, APM Terminals Pipavav, Mr Anish Chandaria, Managing Director and CEO of Aegis Logistics, and Mr Raj Chandaria, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Aegis Logistics.
Aegis will invest up to Rs 400 crore ($ 90 million) in building the 600,000-kilolitre (KL) capacity oil terminal complex in Port Pipavav. The facility will be built in phases over the next three years, with construction expected to commence in January 2011.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Dinesh Lal said that ports needed specialist companies like Aegis, which had the experience and expertise in handling liquid cargo, to handle back-up operations, while it was the responsibility of the port to provide waterfront facilities, connectivity and ensure speedy turnaround of vessels.
He pointed out that Pipavav had been experiencing good growth in container and bulk cargo handling, and was also enhancing its liquid handling capacity.
Mr Tulsiani said that the tie-up would facilitate infrastructure support to Port Pipavav. "A new berth for liquid cargo has already been built at the Port. With liquid cargo storage facilities being developed by Aegis, we will be able to offer our customers a comprehensive portfolio of facilities for a large variety of cargo," he pointed out.
The liquid cargo berth has the capacity to handle up to a million tonnes of cargo depending on the number and size of vessels that call, it was pointed out. It will be connected to the proposed Aegis facility by pipeline.
The facility at Port Pipavav will service oil companies wanting to use the Port for import and export of oil and petrochemical products, said Mr Anish Chandaria. ‘For the first time, India is becoming part of the Asian supply network for oil, and this Port will be a strategic infrastructure for contango and arbitrage trading strategies," he underscored.
He emphasised that the facility will be a "Singapore class" global oil storage and petrochemical complex and that Pipavav was chosen as the location because of it being an international standard private port which was a preferred choice of customers.
Mr Chandaria said that with this facility, Aegis Logistics' liquid terminal capacity will go above one million KL (the largest in India), including a proposed 80,000 KL facility in Haldia and capacity enhancement at its existing facilities in Cochin and Mumbai.
The company is now a step closer to achieving its aim of creating a "necklace" of similar port storage terminals around the coastline of India, which includes plans for facilities in the south-east and south-west.
Aegis Logistics, he underscored, also saw opportunities in bunkering, jet fuel logistics, operation and maintenance contracts for PSUs, and crude oil storage.
Source: Transport Weekly
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