GP Global announced ambitious plans to strengthen their international bunkering business with the addition of new supporting infrastructure, and hiring experienced industry professionals at key offices, including Dubai and Singapore.

With the goal of expanding the group’s marine fuel business while getting ready to supply IMO 2020 compliant fuel to their customers, GP Global is leveraging their international network to ramp up its bunkering business and gear up to meet the International Maritime Organization’s global 0.5% fuel sulfur content.

Key bunkering activities that GP Global will be focusing on include plans to increase the number of barges to boost the group’s capacity to up to 100 KTPM. The group has already increased its time chartered fleet in the ARA market by three barges, giving them seven barges in total, with one of them being a specialist barge focusing on the 0.86 gasoil market.

GP Global has also restarted its trucking business to cover fuel oil and marine gas oil in major ports in the United Arab Emirates, increasing the group’s market share by drawing on its assets of owning trucks and utilising tanks at the Hamriyah Terminal.

“GP Global is committed to providing bunker customers globally with compliant fuel for regulatory changes by IMO in 2020. We are prepared to offer 0.5% low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) from April to our customers in major ports and at physical delivery points of Rotterdam/ARA, Fujairah and Singapore. These can help our customers plan their voyage economics and fuel compatibility for 2020 and beyond. We shall extend the availability of LSFO to other smaller ports where we are physical suppliers by Q4 2019 in preparation for the regulatory changes in January 2020,” said Prerit Goel, group director at GP Global.

“In addition to the above, our fuel delivery systems at all ports shall include HSFO and MGO meeting the changing needs of our customers as we go into 2020. We are also gearing up to provide specific lubricant solutions in the major ports conforming with the changes in fuel specs over the course of a vessel’s voyage.”

GP Global is a global bunker supplier with operations in Europe, Middle East, Indian subcontinent and the Far East with bunker trading offices in Rotterdam, London, Geneva, Dubai, India, Singapore and Seoul. GP Global is currently exploring to enter the bunker market in America and expect to supply 5 million metric tons of bunkers to customers globally in 2020.