Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc., a Greek company that supplies refined marine fuel and lubricants to ships in port and at sea, has launched its own brand of lubricant, Alfa Marine Lubricants, the company announced Oct. 17.
Alfa Marine Lubricants will add to the companys line of marine fuel and lubricants that the company purchases from refineries and major oil producers and then resells to end users. Maintaining a fleet of double hull bunkering tankers, the company supplies ocean and coastal vessels including oil tankers, container ships, drybulk carriers, cruise ships, ferries and marine fuel traders, brokers and the naval ships.
We plan to grow in the 600 million gallon annual world ship lubricant business, said company President E. Nikolas Tavlarios. Our new lubricant service is a natural extension for Aegean. Consistent with the companys strategy to physically supply marine fuel, our line of lubricants will provide added value to our customers and further enhance Aegeans reputation as a full-service logistics company. We continue to take advantage of the large number of seaborne vessels currently under construction for the world fleet and are positioning ourselves to capitalize on our role as the first independent global retailer of lubricants.
Tavlarios declined to comment further, telling Lube Report, We are presently in a quiet period in advance of earnings.
Management plans to introduce the branded lubricants at service centers at its headquarters in Piraeus, Greece, and inJamaica, Gibraltar, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Aegean will further expand distribution of the brand to the top 20 bunkering ports worldwide, the company says. Currently, Alfa Marine Lubricants are available in Aegean service centers in Greece and Singapore.
According to the company, Aegean is positioned to become the first fully independent supplier of marine lubricants, a market traditionally led by major oil companies. It is one of a limited number of independent physical suppliers that owns and operates a fleet of bunkering tankers and conducts physical supply operations in multiple jurisdictions.
An MSN fact sheet lists Aegeans 2006 revenue as $803.8 million and 2005 revenue as $517.3 million, a one-year sales growth of 55.4 percent. Its 2005 revenue is an increase over its 2004 revenue of $263.0 million.
Aegean recently acquired Bunkers at Sea, a Belgium-based marketer and independent physical supplier of marine fuel to vessels in port and at sea. The purchaseaddedthe Sara, a 7,233 deadweight ton double-hull bunkering tanker, and the Vera, a 2,642 dwt single-hull bunkering tanker, to Aegeans fleet. Based in Antwerp, Belgium, Bunkers at Sea served 45 ports located throughout the region including North and Irish Seas, the French Atlantic, the English Channel and St. George Channel. Aegean said the acquisition expanded its presence in Northern Europe.