Total will develop a pipeline in Port to supply diesel boats
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The environment ministry has granted Total the Environment Impact Assesment certificate (EIA) for laying a new pipeline in the port. After submitting plan last October, the oil company may proceed with the putting in place a pipeline that will link leads to another oil company, leaving the terminal La Chaussée Tromelin that serving the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) A, D and E quays.
This new facility will allow to more easily refuel of diesel boats, given that Total does not yet have a dedicated pipeline for such operations at the docks A, D and E.
The project will be located in Zone 3 of the Port Master Plan, close to most industries based in the port: Les Moulins de la Concorde, Cold Mascarene, Taylor Smith Shipbuilding and Repairs, Molasses Storage Tanks, Maize Storage Facility , Edible Oil Refinery, LPG & Petroleum Storage Sites of Total and Caltex, Container Freight Station, and the office of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
Total Maurice explains that this initiative was undertaken after Mauritius Oil Refineries (Moroil) had proposed to lay a conduit for channeling edible oil piers A and D and its perimeters to La Chaussée Tromelin. Total MPA approached to ask them to lay a pipeline in the same trench as that Moroil.
The Total’s aim is to obtain a fast and efficient service to ships calling at Port Louis. According to Total, the Master Plan is still in the direction of the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA), by boosting the activity of supplying vessels with fuel. The Master Plan of 2002 evoked a 20% growth annually over five years.
Port Louis Harbour as refuelling may sell 450,000 tons of fuel to vessels in 2015. According to Total, this could grow to 730,000 tonnes in 2025.
Targets Totals believes feasible, thanks to its network and its international customers and thereby help to bring in foreign currency in the economy.
