October 12, 2012 [The Maritime Executive] - The Melones Oil Terminal, (MOT) in Panama is a 2.1M barrel capacity tank farm facility due to open before the end of 2012 on the Islas Melones, a greenfield development around eight nautical miles from the Pacific end of the Panama Canal.
Safety at Sea provided a Marine Safety Assessment covering marine procedures and operational limits around the newly constructed terminal. The project encompassed the modelling of vessel manoeuvrability in the waters approaching the transfer and storage terminal and devising the initial stages of a Vessel Traffic Management System. Safety at Sea also prepared a plan to ensure MOT’s International Ship and Port Facility Security Code Compliance.
MOT, which will mainly cater for local bunkering requirements, is situated on an island within the approaches to the Panama Canal. As part of its traffic management review, Safety at Sea assessed how tanker and barge operations would interact with both through-Canal traffic and around anchorage sites in the area, where up to 100 vessels can be waiting at any time.
Safety at Sea established for Melones Oil Terminal traffic management rules and drafted an outline specification of navigational aid equipment that the terminal might require.
In April 2012 the terminal’s owner, Melones Oil Terminal Inc, has signed an agreement with Trinidad and Tobago’s state oil company Petrotrin to develop bunkering at the Canal.
