Bunker-only agency
A fuel stop at Gqeberha, South Africa, 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.
Vessels pass Gqeberha on the routes that make it a bunkering stop, and the desk's job is to have the fuel alongside when the vessel arrives and the vessel gone when the hoses are off. Gqeberha is Algoa Bay on the Eastern Cape coast, where the older port of Port Elizabeth and the deep-water port of Ngqura sit a few miles apart; a vessel may be routed to either port depending on cargo, and the choice changes the agent's arrangements for pilotage, stevedores and gate access.
Maingate Shipping acts for the receiving vessel, for the supplier or trader, or for both under written roles, and combines the stop with crew, spares, provisions and cash to master so that one anchorage visit does the work of several.
Quantity is protected by attendance: surveyors appointed by the owner at the soundings and sampling, the delivery note witnessed, protests recorded before the barge lets go.
Once the stem is fixed, the desk's work at Gqeberha is timing: the port's permission window, the supply vessel's availability and the vessel's arrival aligned so that the transfer starts within hours of the anchor going down. The notification, the position and the supplier's confirmation are all in writing before the vessel arrives.
The master receives the delivery plan, the supplier's contact and the surveyor's name before the vessel is off the port.
The transfer at Gqeberha follows the port's rules for the mode: barge at berth, with anchorage deliveries case by case. Weather sets the window, and the desk moves the delivery rather than force it into a sea state the supplier will not work in.
The boarding officer is on deck for the connection and the soundings and stays until the delivery note is signed.
The owner's surveyor sounds the barge before and after, witnesses the sampling and checks the delivery note against the stem. A difference between the barge's figures and the vessel's is protested on the spot, in writing, with the surveyor's figures attached; a protest raised after the barge has gone is a letter, not evidence.
Samples are sealed and their custody recorded, and the desk holds the paperwork with the account.
The desk treats a bunker call at Gqeberha as an anchorage visit with a purpose, and uses it: crew changes via Chief Dawid Stuurman 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.
Yes. A vessel may be routed to either port depending on cargo, and the choice changes the agent's arrangements for pilotage, stevedores and gate access.
The owner, manager or operator for the vessel's side; the trader or physical supplier for the delivery; sometimes both on one instruction with the roles set out.
Not compulsory, but the desk recommends an owner's surveyor at every delivery; the cost is small against a quantity dispute.
Port charges and third-party services at cost with receipts, plus an agency fee agreed in the proforma DA before the call.
One instruction, one account, one contact for the master and one for the principal.
Bunker calls sit with port agency and anchorage services on the same desk.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091