A new product storage and transshipment terminal is under construction at Vasilikos in Cyprus. VTT Vasilikos (VTTV), a subsidiary of VTTI, the joint venture involving products trader Vitol and Malaysian shipping company MISC, an arm of Petronas, said recently that Phase 1 of the new terminal will come into operation in early 2014 with a storage capacity of 357,000 cu ms, while Phase 2 will be completed by the end of that year and bring total capacity to 643,000 cu ms.
The €300mn terminal will store and transship gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, gas oil and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Construction by the Cyprus-based J&P Group began in early 2012 and has since progressed with the partial erection of an administration building, customs building and eight storage tanks (MEES, 2 April). The foundations for another 11 storage tanks have been laid. A marine jetty with four berths is also included in the project. It will extend 1.2km offshore and have two loading arms per berth per product. Each arm will have a capacity to load or discharge 1,250 cu ms per hour. The terminal expects to service some 550 tankers per year and will allow VTTI to end the practice of transferring cargoes ship-to-ship while at sea in the region. Some 250 such transfers occurred in the East Mediterranean during the last year, VTTV said. (CONTINUED - 277 WORDS)
