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MT Fossil, an oil tanker carrying 100,000 tonnes of crude oil from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, has arrived at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port.
The process of lightening -- transferring oil to smaller vessels -- began at around 10:30 am on Friday.
The tanker had reached the Kutubdia outer anchorage near the port on Thursday night, reports bdnews24.com.
Md Sharif Hasnat, managing director of state-owned oil refining company Eastern Refinery PLC, said, “MT Fossil arrived at the Kutubdia outer anchorage last night. Oil unloading operations started this morning.”
MT Fossil had departed Fujairah Port on May 11 carrying the consignment bound for Chattogram.
Eastern Refinery General Manager (Operation and Planning) Md Mostafizur Rahman said, “Lightering operations started after the vessel arrived at night. Around 25 to 26 lighter vessels may be needed to unload all the oil.
“All the crude oil from this vessel is expected to reach Eastern Refinery within the next 8 to 10 days.”
Another tanker, MT Ninemia, carrying 100,000 tonnes of crude oil from Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia, had arrived at the Kutubdia channel on May 6.
Due to the Iran war and the resulting instability in West Asian countries, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the import of crude oil into Bangladesh had remained suspended since Feb 18.
Therefore, a shortage of crude oil emerged, and from Apr 14, refining operations at the country’s only state-owned refinery, Eastern Refinery, became “almost completely halted”.
Full-scale production resumed from the morning of May 8 after MT Ninemia's arrival.