Friends In Need

The comparative boom times enjoyed by African bunker suppliers in the wake of ongoing Red Sea attacks has lasted well into 2025, and it’s no surprise that a regional market dominated by a couple of international major suppliers and an array of national bunkering firms trading off the back of their respective countries’ oil stocks or locations close to East-West shipping routes has seen significant expansion from newcomers and growth in local outfits.

South Africa should have been perfectly placed to take advantage of the slew of vessels steering clear of the Red Sea. However, longstanding issues with local supply coupled with bunkering being stopped in Algoa Bay for well over a year – it eventually restarted in February – has meant that bunker sales have continued to slide across 2024. Total fuel sales last year amounted to under 900,000 tonnes, a sharp decline from the country’s heyday.

Various government measures down the years both for and against the fuel sector have meant a mix of regulations, port congestion, high costs and all backed by only limited shoreside infrastructure. On top of which, Astron Energy remains the only local refiner producing marine fuels, leaving the market heavily reliant on more expensive imported fuels. While South African bunkerers continue to press for change in the hopes of reinvigorating the country’s fuel market, it’s been up to other potential hubs to take advantage of traffic shifts and stake a claim to be regional bunkering powerhouses.

West African bunker demand rose 18% last year, and Global Fuel Supply became the latest to take the plunge into the region’s waters by launching its own physical supply operation out of Luanda, Angola, at the end of February. Bunkering is provided by the newly chartered 5,498 dwt tanker RLO Explorer.

“We see tremendous opportunity for growth and expansion in the West African market,” said Bijan Shahbaz, managing partner and COO of GFS. “With some of the most dedicated professionals in the industry, we are fully prepared to add even more value for our customers by delivering a smooth, seamless service that sets new standards in this region.”

The company was at pains to point out the tanker’s relatively short length as an advantage in terms of going alongside oil platforms and floating storage, while also keen to highlight that it is fitted with flow meters and is capable of handling e-BDNs.

In the case of the latter, GFS said it had become the first physical supplier in West Africa to offer fully digitalised bunker operations in April by joining Ofiniti’s FuelBoss platform.

“We are excited to bring digital innovation to our West Africa operations with Ofiniti,“ said Lamin Bara, GFS’ chief commercial office. ”This marks a key milestone in our commitment to delivering smarter, faster, and more transparent services to our customers.”

“Global Fuel Supply joining Ofiniti is a great testament to how technology can play a part in enabling expansion into new markets,“ Ofiniti’s Oliver Brix Sparsø added. ”At Ofiniti, we are confident that the FuelBoss platform can offer increased value for suppliers anywhere in the world.”

Further north, Osprey Energy Marine launched a new physical supply operation at Abidjan towards the turn of the year, offering in-port bunkering.

Monjasa, the longest-standing international supplier and one of the dominant players in the market, added two further tankers (one to replace an existing one repositioned to Panama) to its West African fleet last year. One was a length-restricted vessel to service the offshore sector. The 7,858 dwt Monjasa Hunter “brings new and specialised capabilities to the Monjasa fleet,” the company said.

Group shipping director Torben Maigaard Nielsen added: “Unlike our other tankers in West Africa, which are too big in size for this purpose, Monjasa Hunter offers a distinct advantage for offshore operators in the region. Thanks to her overall length of 101m and her relatively large carrying capacity compared to her size, Monjasa Hunter can support niche length-restricted fuel operations, including FPSOs.”

The company rolls its African sales volumes in with the Middle East in its financial reports, so it’s hard to say for sure how much it’s benefited directly from the Red Sea shift, but Monjasa’s Middle East and Africa combined sales volumes rose over 20% in 2024 – broadly in line with the WAF region’s uptick as a whole.