Bunker calls
A fuel stop at Luanda, Angola, 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 Luanda 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. Luanda is Luanda Bay on the Angolan coast, the country's main gateway for imports; anchorage waiting has historically been long, so berth prospects are checked before the vessel commits to an arrival time.
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.
A bunker call at Luanda 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.
The transfer at Luanda follows the port's rules for the mode: ship-to-ship at anchorage with a mooring master and fenders, or barge at berth. 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.
A bunker call is the moment to change crew, land spares, take provisions and deliver cash to master, and the desk fits these into the same stop through the new international airport serving Luanda and by launch. Nothing waits for a separate visit.
The account shows the port charges, the agency fee, the launch hire and the services delivered, each with its receipt, and reconciles against the advance.
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.
Bunker calls sit with port agency and anchorage services on the same desk.
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