Of Fuel, Of Ships and everything in between

There are a few hours of the day that are discernible from others by just sound. From just these sounds, even a blind man can accurately guess the time: The cries from a mosque in the early hours, it is 5a.m; birds chirping, 6a.m; ringing of school bells and anthems sung by children; 8a.m; the collective sound of a neighbourhoods’ generators coming on, 7p.m; The collective sound of generators going off, 12a.m.

In fact, if it is 7p.m and your neighbour’s generator is yet to join the orchestra of smoking engines, it either needs repairs or they are out of fuel. If they are out of fuel, there are only two explanations: there is either a shortage in fuel or your neighbour is broke. That is all.

For such an obvious necessity, the average Nigerian has a very basic awareness of fuel and how it appears in our homes: Fuel appears at the port, Oil tankers pickup said fuel, Oil Tankers offload at petrol station and we appear with our kegs in tow, to buy the fuel. From our ports and into our trusty Yamahas, that’s the chain of supply of fuel.

Yet, the primary beginning of the chain of supply is largely disregarded… shipping. The world over, shipping has remained one of the most widespread conveyors of fuel. This is primarily because, they carry a colossal amount of fuel in a single trip, 84 million gallons on average (to put this in perspective, an oil tanker can only move about nine thousand gallons).

Also, though the world needs fuel daily and has thousands of ships traipsing the oceans of the world, not once will you hear of a ‘go-slow’ mid-Atlantic. However, even with these very important advantages, shipping has disadvantages of its own: Oil spillage and the additional challenge of transporting petroleum products from the ports to every part of the nation.

One of the chief ways one can scale these challenges is working with companies that have in-depth knowledge on the challenges involved in maritime logistics and how to surpass them.

Dreg Waters is such a company. At Dreg waters, not only do we deliver excellent maritime services to our clients, we also cater to other services they require such as procurement of licences and purchase of equipment. We work with both local and international clients who can attest to our quality service and reliability.

Connect with us today for your business services onshore, offshore and all your maritime needs.