Bolloré Logistics has announced that it has been awarded a contract for the Main Logistics Contractor Services (MLC) for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. This follows an extensive and detailed tendering process. The move comes soon after news that MSC has acquired Bolloré Africa.
The EACOP project will construct a 1,443km buried pipeline that will transport Uganda’s crude oil from Kabaale in Uganda to the Chongoleani peninsula on the Tanzanian coast. The project will include the world’s longest electrically heated pipeline which will be thermally insulated throughout the entire route. Above-ground pumping stations and pressure reduction stations will control the safe flow of oil within the pipeline. The EACOP project will transport approximately 216,000 barrels of oil per day from Uganda’s reserves at the Albertine Graben (Lake Albert) to a Marine Storage & Terminal and a Load Out Facility, near to Tanga Port in Tanzania, where the crude oil will be exported worldwide by ocean-going tankers. The EACOP shareholders are TotalEnergies, Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Uganda National Oil Company Company (UNOC) Limited and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).
The MLC contract is awarded to an association of Bolloré Logistics entities in Europe, Uganda and Tanzania. It is hoped the expertise of Bolloré Logistics worldwide will ensure efficient logistics operations from global origin locations to the main project discharge port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Thereafter the project materials will be transported to multiple worksite locations in Tanzania and Uganda. EALS Ltd., a joint venture entity registered in Tanzania, is included in the contractor association to ensure meaningful Local Content opportunities. The EALS Ltd. shareholders are Super-Star Forwarders, a major Tanzanian logistics provider, and Bolloré Transport & Logistics Tanzania. The EALS Ltd. structure and the existing Bolloré Transport & Logistics Uganda structure will maximise opportunities for Tanzanian and Ugandan subcontracting, employment and training at the highest international standards.
The MLC contract scope includes end-to-end receiving, storage, handling and transportation of hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of cargo, including over 80,000 joints of 18m line-pipe, multiple heavy-lift operations and significant break-bulk and containerised cargo transportation. The international delivery cycle will utilise a series of charter-vessels, as well as existing global shipping.
The steel pipe will be imported into Tanzania and transported to a coating plant in Nzega district, where it will receive a thermal insulation coating. The MLC contract includes the provision of purpose designed 18m trailers to deliver the line-pipe to multiple locations within Tanzania and Uganda. The transportation of the entire project cargo within the two East African countries will exceed 30m truck-kms, under the strictest Health, Safety and Environmental standards. MLC logistics operations will be provided by the contractor associated companies emphasising Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental management systems, Ethical Compliance policies, commitment to National and Local Content objectives, advanced Track & Trace and Control Tower systems.
Source: Bolloré