“We are beginning the construction of the new facility in July,” Captain Nick Kachrilas, the company’s head of UAE operations, told this newspaper. He declined to comment on the cost of the project. The company, which has entered into a 25-year terminal lease agreement with the municipality of Fujairah, will build an in-land storage facility in the emirate. There is an option for extending for an additional 25 years. Construction of the storage terminal, which will total about three million barrels in capacity, is expected to be completed within the next 1.5 to two years. Aegean Marine is expected to lease a portion of the facility upon completion to a third party, which is expected to generate an incremental income in addition to the company’s core physical supply operations, sources said. Kachrilas, however, declined to name the third party. Aegean is a marine fuel logistics company that markets refined marine fuel and lubricants to ships in port and at sea. As a physical supplier, it purchase marine fuel from refineries, major oil producers and other sources and resell and deliver these fuels using its bunkering tankers to a broad base of end users. “We provide fuelling services to all types of ocean-going vessels and many types of coastal vessels, such as oil tankers, container ships, drybulk carriers, cruise ships and ferries. Our customers include a diverse group of ocean-going and coastal ship operators and marine fuel traders, brokers and other users.” The company considers Fujairah as ideal for its operations. The emirate has about 10 prominent players in oil trade operating out of its soil and trades about one to two million tonnes of fuel oil every month. As of now, AMPN runs one in-land storage facility located in the UK. It has an onshore storage facility currently under development in Jamaica and another in Morocco.