Vast Infraestrutura Completes First Operation at Açu Liquid Terminal (TLA)

Vast Infraestrutura, a company from the Prumo Group, completed its first operation at the Açu Liquid Terminal (TLA) on Sunday, November 17. This new terminal is located at the Port of Açu, in São João da Barra (RJ).

The operation involved the transfer of marine diesel (Marine Gas Oil—MGO) in a ship-to-barge mode, with the transfer taking place between an MR (Medium Range) type vessel docked at the berth and a barge alongside. Marine Gas Oil is widely used in the propulsion engines of small and medium-sized vessels, including Offshore Support Vessels (OSVs) and tugboats.

The two companies signed a five-year contract to provide services related to this fuel’s reception, storage, and dispatch at the TLA. As part of this agreement, it will even have a storage capacity of 20,000 m³ after installing a tank park, serving the markets of the Port of Açu and offshore operations in the Campos, Espírito Santo, and Santos Basins. Last month, Vast officially took over the operations of the TLA, formerly known as the Açu Maritime Fuels Terminal (Tecma).

“The TLA addresses market demand for more infrastructure to handle liquids in Brazil. The terminal also has the potential to handle lower carbon footprint fuels by adding biofuels to fossil fuels, contributing to the decarbonization of the maritime sector. The project is modular, allowing for future expansions to meet Brazil’s growing market demands,” explained Victor Snabaitis Bomfim, CEO of Vast Infraestrutura.

This is Vast’s second contract for the TLA. In July of this year, the company announced a partnership with Vibra, ensuring that for the next 20 years, the terminal will serve as the main entry point for Vibra’s base oils in Brazil, a raw material used in the production of lubricants.

The new Vast terminal has two operational berths, one of which can receive MR-type vessels—Medium-Range ships—with gross weights of up to 59,000 tonnes.

In addition to the berths, the TLA will feature a tank park with a storage capacity of up to 84,000 m³ in the project’s first phase. This park will store petroleum products such as marine fuels (Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil—VLSFO and MGO), light oils, lubricants, and biofuels.

Vast will also build truck-loading platforms for the land transportation of fuels, base oils, and other liquids.

During the tank park’s construction, Vast will provide services through transshipment operations (ship-to-ship and ship-to-barge). Once the tanks at the TLA are operational, vessels will be able to offload the relieved volume into the terminal’s tanks.

In addition to the TLA, Vast owns the Açu Oil Terminal (T-Oil), the only private terminal in Brazil capable of transferring oil from VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) ships. In the first half of 2024, T-Oil was responsible for 50.2% of all oil exports from terminals in Brazil. T-Oil operations serve 11 clients: BW Energy, CNOOC, Equinor, Galp, Petrobras, PetroChina, Petronas, PRIO, Repsol, Shell, and TotalEnergies.

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