The new ultra-modern Liquid Bulk Terminal (LBT) in the Port of Takoradi, will receive its maiden liquid bulk cargo tanker vessel by the close of June 2021.

The terminal is Ghana's deepest in-harbour Liquid Bulk terminal.

Captain Ebenezer Afadzi, the Director of the Port of Takoradi during an engagement with stakeholders described the process as a critical final step before the start of operations at the Terminal.

Participant and stakeholders at the briefing/consultation sessions included; representatives of bulk oil distribution companies (BDCs), oil marketing companies (OMCs), shipping agents, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (financier of the LBT project), Marshall Oil & Gas Services (an IbisTek subsidiary and operators of the new LBT), the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).

The decision to allow the facility to receive its first Tanker followed stakeholder briefing and engagement sessions particularly with petroleum downstream stakeholders.

The new LBT was commissioned late last year by the Vice President of Ghana, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions halted the engagement until now.

"It is worth noting that the NPA conducted three rounds of inspections on the terminal, including; its distribution pipelines and gave the greenlight, paving the way for the arrival of the maiden vessel."

Some areas of concern to stakeholders included; accurate metering/ determination of cargo volumes, volume temperature compensation and billing, handling of pipeline displacement losses, pipeline size synchronization and standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The rest are: safety and security of vessels, product contamination liability and insurance, operating permits, applicable standards for calculation of quantities, pipeline condition (emptiness/fullness) determination prior to discharge, slop tanks inspection and draining before and after discharge.

The new LBT project, when operational upon the arrival of the maiden tanker vessel, would become the deepest drafted LBT along the West Coast of Africa.

"We are positioning the Port of Takoradi as an essential and cost-efficient logistical support for the supply of liquid bulk cargoes such as petrol, diesel, LPG, bitumen among others", Captain Afadzi added.