The Ghana Petroleum Mooring Systems Company Limited (GPMS) has increased the discharge of petroleum products at its Tema jetty following the introduction of 24-hour berthing and unberthing operations last year.
The Operations and Maintenance Manager of GPMS, Francis Owusu, said the move was made possible after the company resolved technical challenges and improved lighting and security arrangements at the facility.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) spearheaded the process in collaboration with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).
Mr Owusu disclosed this during a briefing for members of civil society organisations (CSOs) who visited GPMS’s offshore mooring facilities, comprising the Single Point Mooring (SPM), Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM) systems and the oil jetty in Tema on Thursday.
The visit, organised by the NPA, was aimed at giving the CSOs a better understanding of operations in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.
Speaking during the engagement, the Chief Executive of the NPA, Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, said the Tema jetty previously could not accommodate vessels after 5 p.m., resulting in ships having to wait in queues to berth.
He said the introduction of round-the-clock operations had helped address the limitations and improve vessel movements at the facility.
The CBM system, located approximately 2.7 nautical miles from the Tema Fishing Harbour, consists of four permanent mooring chains anchored to keep vessels stationary and prevent them from changing direction with the wind and currents.
The oil jetty, meanwhile, serves as a multi-purpose petroleum products terminal, facilitating the discharge and loading of various products, including crude oil, fuel oil, aviation turbine kerosene (ATK), gasoil, gasoline, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), comprising butane and propane.
Speaking on behalf of the CSOs, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policy and Research, Kwadwo Opoku, commended the NPA Chief Executive for maintaining an open-door policy that allows civil society groups to gain deeper insight into the operations of the downstream petroleum industry.
