New Mangalore Port Trust on Tuesday signed an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to provide bunkering facilities for vessels.
A press release by NMPT said that it had invited tenders from firms experienced in providing the facilities. IOC won the bid for a five-year period offering highest minimum volume of bunker offered by a firm, it said, adding the expected minimum cargo to be handled will be 90,000 tonnes annually.
Bunkering is a facility of supplying of fuel for use by ships and includes the shipboard logistics of loading fuel and distributing it among available bunker tanks.
The release said that NMPT initiated action to identify infrastructure projects and found that the bunkering facilities at the port will drive growth as it is located on the main trunk route.
The objective was to provide the most appropriate facility from among the resources already available with the port to serve as a full-fledged bunkering facility, by incorporating the required modifications, to achieve the intended purpose, it said.