The failure to nominate an operator has left the Tk8,298 crore Single Point Mooring (SPM) challenge lazy for six months since its commissioning. Within the intervening time, the say-owned oil refinery is soundless spending Tk66 crore every month in sea-to-plant transportation of imported petroleum oil.
Located 16km offshore from storage tanks at Matarbari in Cox’s Bazar, the floating buoy is hooked up by 110km double pipelines – 73km offshore and 37km onshore – to handle improper petroleum oil and diesel from mom vessels to storage tanks in Maheshkhali and then to Eastern Refinery Ltd depots in Chattogram’s Patenga.
The China-funded challenge is anticipated to avoid wasting around Tk800 crore annually by cutting again time from 11 days to two days to switch 1 lakh tonnes by chartered lighterage vessels that cost Tk66 crore month-to-month.
Under the challenge, six storage tanks were in-constructed Maheshkhali adding a capability of 200,000 tonnes to Eastern Refinery, enabling it to stockpile oil for two-and-a-half months’ need – offering a buffer for provide disruptions.
However all these advantages remain elusive because the Single Point Mooring does no longer non-public an operator.
ERL Managing Director Sharif Hasnat, who will seemingly be SPM challenge director, would perhaps perhaps presumably additionally no longer be reached for a commentary on why it did not catch an operator though the capability had its trial perambulate in July remaining year and has been lying ready to be used since March. Despite multiple attempts, he did no longer retort to calls from The Replace Customary.
Mohammad Amin Ul Ahsan, chairman of ELR’s owning authority Bangladesh Petroleum Company (BPC) acknowledged getting an operator for SPM would perhaps perhaps presumably additionally elevate 3 to 6 months.
He acknowledged the professional committee on public procurement rules (PPR) has already submitted a file recommending the formulation to the ministry to hire an operator for SPM.
“We’re staring at for to receive it interior three-four days. As soon as we receive the suggestions, we can birth the formulation,” he instructed TBS.
What introduced on the prolong
Officers on the BPC, acknowledged the preliminary concept changed into for the SPM to be operated by a private organisation for the principle 18 months, with BPC group being professional to raise over operations from the 2nd year.
Interested by that native operators are no longer equipped to handle a challenge of such complexity and scale, the then Awami League government changed into planning to nominate a global operator to perambulate the SPM efficiently soon after its commissioning, they acknowledged.
Because the Chinese language firm that constructed the challenge itself changed into prepared to operate SPM, the government changed into reviewing the provide.
BPC Director (operations and planning) Anupam Barua acknowledged, “China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Ltd, which constructed the SPM, showed passion in working the challenge for 3 years.
“The ministry had also formed a committee to overview their proposal below the Particular Energy Security Provisions. The committee held two conferences too. However, the formulation bought caught on account of political turmoil in July.”
Unsolicited contract signing changed into allowed below the Snappily Enhancement of Electrical energy and Energy Present (Particular Provision) Act 2010 to expedite the hiring direction of for necessary vitality initiatives treasure the SPM.
Soon after taking decide up of business, the period in-between government suspended special vitality safety provisions amid criticism and controversies around unsolicited vitality and electrical energy initiatives. Now, any operator has to be chosen by originate soft below the Public Procurement Act, they pointed out.
Barua explained that the SPM challenge had in the starting decide up been structured below the special vitality safety provisions. However, the factitious in government coverage disrupted the operator recruitment direction of, he acknowledged.
“We’re now exploring choices below Public Procurement Regulations (PPR). Now we non-public already sought professional opinions to inaugurate the recruitment direction of. If we receive suggestions soon, we can proceed with a restricted soft for sooner hiring. In another case, we would perhaps perhaps presumably additionally non-public to educate the longer originate soft direction of,” Barua acknowledged, adding that they’d perhaps presumably additionally want to rely upon foreign operators for SPM.
Security and operational risks
The lickety-split inaugurate of SPM’s industrial operation is now being felt more urgently than ever earlier than. Within the absence of the challenge’s operation, Eastern Refinery has continued to pass improper oil utilizing two lighterage ships.
The transportation plan had a predominant setback as Banglar Jyoti, one in all its two hired vessels, had a gigantic explosion on 30 September along an ERL jetty, claiming three lives. Even supposing the country’s simplest say-perambulate refinery narrowly averted a attainable catastrophe, these aging ships proceed to pose a excessive probability to Bangladesh’s vitality safety.
These two vessels, Banglar Jyoti and Banglar Sourav, owned by yet another say-owned company Bangladesh Transport Company (BSC), are hired to pass improper oil from mom vessels anchored in the Kutubdia Channel to ERL’s refinery. With one now out of provider, the opposite one does double responsibility, critically slowing the oil transport direction of.
Time, cost doubled without a output yet
The SPM challenge, undertaken by Eastern Refinery Restricted in 2015, changed into designed to seamlessly switch fuel oils from mom vessels to storage tanks and refineries to diminish transportation time and freight charges.
After loads of reviews, the challenge time doubled and price shot as much as Tk8,222 crore from the preliminary estimate of Tk4,936 crore, on account of inclusion of extra construction works, alternate price changes and taxes.
At remaining, it went into trial perambulate in July remaining year, initiating unloading from a Saudi Arabian mom vessel carrying 82,000 tonnes of fuel oils. However a predominant technical glitch halted the formulation and it took as much as December to restore.
The challenge’s deadline changed into prolonged unless June 2024 and at remaining it changed into commissioned in March 2024, nine years after it began.
Authorities now face stress to hasty-display screen the hiring of operators and fully operationalise the SPM challenge. For now, on the other hand, the delays proceed, and the financial and safety risks remain.
In early 2019, construction of the twin-channel SPM machine began with preferential loans from the Chinese language government, financed by the Export-Import Monetary institution of China. China supplied $467.84 million as preferential customers’ credit ranking and $82.5 million as a soft loan. The loan is to be repaid over twenty years at a 2% annual passion price, with a 5-year grace duration.
