Bunker-only agency
A fuel stop at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on one instruction: permission, position, barge, surveyor, delivery note and departure, with the crew change and the spares done by the same launch. Partner agent alongside, Mombasa desk coordinating.
A bunker-only call at Abidjan has three clocks running: the vessel's passage, the barge or supply tanker's schedule and the port's permission window. Maingate Shipping's desk sets them to the same time. The Ébrié lagoon in Côte d'Ivoire, entered through the Vridi canal gives the setting; the canal transit and the lagoon berths give the port a pilotage sequence of its own, and cocoa's mid-crop and main-crop seasons set the export calendar.
Owners, operators and managers appoint the desk for the vessel's side; traders and physical suppliers appoint it for the delivery. Both can be on one instruction, with the roles written down.
The boarding officer attends the connection, the soundings and the sampling, and the bunker delivery note is signed with any protest already recorded, because a dispute discovered a week later has no evidence behind it.
A bunker call at Abidjan starts with the stem: quantity, grade, supplier and the delivery mode the supplier offers. The desk files the port's notification, applies for the anchorage position or the berth, and fixes the delivery time with the supplier against the vessel's ETA and the weather forecast.
Owners still shopping for fuel are given the names of suppliers and traders serving the port; the desk does not sell fuel and does not take a margin on it.
At Abidjan the supply tanker comes alongside at the anchorage under the port permission for ship-to-ship transfer, with a mooring master, fenders and hoses provided for the operation, or a barge delivers at the berth. The desk fixes the mode with the supplier, obtains the permission and books the equipment.
Connection, opening soundings, pumping, closing soundings and disconnection are attended and timed by the boarding officer, so that the account shows what happened.
Surveyors appointed by the owner attend the delivery and issue their quantity report. Where the vessel's figures and the supplier's figures differ, a letter of protest is issued and recorded before the barge lets go. The desk keeps the samples' custody documentation with the delivery note.
For traders and suppliers appointing the desk, the same attendance serves their side of the delivery, with the roles set out in writing.
The desk treats a bunker call at Abidjan as an anchorage visit with a purpose, and uses it: crew changes via Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, spares in transit, provisions, cash and medical attention all go out by the same launch or alongside the same berth.
Every service is a line in the account with its receipt, and the final DA reconciles against the advance within the agreed days.
From anchor down to anchor up, the time is set by the quantity and the barge's pumping rate; the desk gives an estimate for each stem and keeps the vessel informed of the barge's movements.
Yes, with the roles written down so that each party knows whose instruction the desk follows for each task.
The owner's surveyor's figures are compared with the delivery note on the spot and a letter of protest is issued before the barge leaves; the desk keeps the documents for the claim.
Crew, spares, provisions, cash to master and medical attention, by the same launch or at the same berth.
One instruction, one account, one contact for the master and one for the principal.
The port call, the crew change and the supplier desk, one instruction line.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091