Work on Ihavandhippolhu bunkering facility to start ‘around June’

Maldives’ Economic Minster says that construction of a bunkering facility in Ihavandhippolhu will begin around June.

Saeed made the remark in an interview with TRT World on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Turkey-based news outlet, Saeed spoke about efforts to expand the Maldives’ economic base, which is currently heavily dependent on tourism.

Saeed said that the Maldivian government is looking into several areas, including the digital, financial, and maritime sectors, as well as new areas, such as bunkering services.

He noted that in March, Maldives’ State Trading Organization (STO) signed an agreement with Vitol, the biggest energy trader in the world, to provide bunkering services from the Maldives.

“That is a new economic activity that hasn’t been done at this scale in the country. As a state, we have not given it such a big push in the past,” he said.

Saeed said that construction of the bunkering facility is expected to begin around June.

“We expect Vitol to start the business activities around June when construction begins,” he said.

Saeed said the project will be carried out in two phases; off-port bunkering and a physical port.

“The project has two phases. One is off-port bunkering, which doesn't require physical infrastructure at the port because Maldives is a sea country, so we can park the ships in atolls. But the second stage will be obviously constructing the physical port and related services,” he said.

When asked about competition with other countries with similar oil storage facilities for ships, Saeed acknowledged that other countries in the region offer similar services, but stressed that Maldives is ideally located.

“Singapore and Sri Lanka have such a setup. Around the region, different destinations provide similar bunkering services. But the Maldives is ideally located and is a popular sea lane,” he said.

“We believe that by partnering with the right people we can capture some bunkering market. It is not to compete with anyone but rather it is an effort to diversify our economy.”