Transfer of crude oil from a mother vessel to Pump Station and Tank Farm through a newly-inaugurated pipeline had to be halted three days after it was put into operation in Cox’s Bazar’s Maheshkhali.
Md Lokman, managing director of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), confirmed the matter saying that the release of crude oil from a Saudi Arabian vessel-loaded with 82,000 tonnes of crude oil stopped due to faults in the supply line.
He said 7, 000 to 8,000 tonnes of oil have so far been released from the mother vessel. The rest will be extracted with lighterage, i.e. the old method using smaller vessels to unload the oil from the large tanker.
The ERL officer said the project implementing Chinese organization is working to fix the issue and the release will resume soon.
On June 24, the 229 metre long and 12.5 metre draught Saudi vessel ‘MT HORAI’ carrying 82,000 tonnes of oil anchored in the deep sea of Bay Bengal in Maheshkhali.
