To meet the country’s energy demands, the oil tanker ‘MT Fossil’ carrying another 100,000 tons of crude fuel oil has reached the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port. Coming from the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, the tanker arrived in Bangladesh using an alternative route, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude lightering operations via small oil tankers began around 10:45 AM on Friday (May 22). This crude fuel oil will be preserved in the storage tanks of Eastern Refinery PLC (ERL). Later, various types of fuel oils, including diesel, will be produced through the refining process.

Md. Sharif Hasnat, Managing Director of ERL, stated that the tanker carrying 100,000 tons of crude has already anchored at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port. Currently, the work of transferring the oil to the storage tanks using small tankers is underway. Following this, the refining operations will begin.

Earlier, on May 6, ‘MT Ninemia’ arrived in Bangladesh carrying 100,000 tons of crude oil from the Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia. After the completion of unloading all the crude from that tanker, ERL resumed operations on May 8, having remained closed for 23 days. That tanker had also arrived in Bangladesh via an alternative route, avoiding the Strait of Hormuz.

Although it takes more time to reach Chattogram Port by using an alternative route, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) views the ability to sustain regular crude imports in this manner as a positive development.

BPC sources stated that the import of crude fuel oil in two large tankers per month for ERL will continue as per the previous plan. For the time being, the tankers will arrive at Chattogram Port avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. However, if the situation in the Middle East normalizes, tanker movement may resume on the shorter-distance Hormuz route as before.