Integrated midstream and downstream energy company Puma Energy on Wednesday unveiled its new conventional buoy mooring systems (CBM) in Luanda Bay, Angola.
The fuel-loading buoy anchored offshore near Puma’s Fishing Port Terminal, which was currently being extended to a total storage capacity of 276 000 m3, would serve as a strategic mooring point for Africa, allowing a range of carriers to berth while loading or offloading oil product.
“We constantly assess new and strategic infrastructure investment opportunities, which help us provide safe, reliable and cost effective supply, storage and distribution solutions to our customers. This new CBM facility in Luanda provides security of supply to and from Angola as well as [the rest of] Africa,” Puma CEO Pierre Eladari said in a statement.
The Oil Companies International Marine Forum’s standards-compliant CBM could accommodate vessels up to 225 000 dead weight tons with a draft restriction of 19.3 m and had a bidirectional flow and a nominal product transfer rate of 4 000 m3/h on both lines.
The mooring buoys were fitted with navigational aids to assist with effective, safer and environment-friendly tanker loading and berthing.
“The facility … will make Angola's Fishing Port Terminal a key site, securing the supply of energy to and from Angola and Africa during a period of high demand for energy products,” Eladari commented, adding that the improved efficiency would help Angola's economy to remain among the fastest growing in Africa.