Arkas Petrol refueled more than 23 thousand times

“Although price level is the first thing to look at in the fuel sector, service quality remains important for our customers, who have experienced the importance of quality in the past. The people we enjoy working with are our business partners with this professional point of view,” said Seçkin Gül, Arkas Petrol's General Manager, and states that as Arkas Petrol, they have delivered a total of 7 million tons of fuel, reaching more than 23 thousand refuelings so far.

Seçkin Gül, who started his professional maritime career after graduating from ITU Maritime Faculty in 2001, later served as an officer and ship captain on various international voyages. After his maritime life, Gül worked as an inspector and fleet manager in the administrative offices of various companies and joined Arkas Petrol Ürünleri ve Ticaret A.Ş. in 2012, and has been working as the General Manager since 2019.

Talking about the services provided by Arkas Petrol with its fleet structure and international position, Seçkin Gül said, “We have a strong ship fleet and an experienced staff. We have a business approach that does not compromise on the trust and quality reflected by the Arkas brand. We provide service to the sector with modern ships owned and operated by ourselves. There are six double-hull tankers in our fleet. We employ Turkish personnel in our entire fleet, this is one of the many things we are proud of. We do both refueling and transportation in the Black Sea, Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas"

To date, we have refueled more than 23 thousand times

Giving information about the refueling points and annual refueling amounts in Turkey, Gül said, "Although we mainly carry out fuel refueling at the ports of the Marmara Sea, we also provide services in the Black Sea and Mediterranean ports according to the demands. As Arkas Petrol, we have delivered 7 million tons of fuel by making more than 23 thousand refuelings to date.”

We continue to work non-stop

Stating that Arkas is an international holding whose name is known for quality and trust in the maritime and logistics industry, Gül said, “We always witness the positive impact of the Arkas brand in the meetings we hold with our industry stakeholders. As Arkas Petrol, we continue to work non-stop in order to maintain this image. Thanks to our identity as both a ship owner and a fuel supplier, we will continue to be the solution partner of our customers. Although the price level is the first thing to look at in the fuel sector, service quality remains important for our customers, who have experienced the importance of quality in the past. It is our business partners with this professional point of view that we also enjoy working with.”

It is very difficult to predict the future

Evaluating Arkas Petrol's targets this year, Gül said, “Unfortunately, the ongoing war in the Black Sea has caused us to revise our 2022 plans. In this period when we wake up with different news every day, it is very difficult to make predictions for the future, but it would not be wrong to say that the business volume for our industry will decrease compared to the previous year.”

We closely follow alternative fuel Technologies

Giving information about their new projects and investments for the coming period, Gül said, “The International Maritime Organization (IMO) took the first step in 2005 with the protocol it added to the MARPOL Convention in order to prevent emissions from ships. Meanwhile, it also announced the regulation called “IMO 2020”, which will mainly affect international shipping in 2018. Within the scope of this regulation, the upper limit for sulfur emissions was reduced from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent, effective as of January 1, 2020. In addition, it is aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, and to reduce carbon intensity by 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050.

At this point, alternative fuel technologies such as LNG, methanol, ammonia, biofuels, liquid hydrogen, and batteries started to be spoken more loudly by the sector. As Arkas Petrol, we closely follow all alternative fuel technologies and cooperate with shipowners at this point.

We think that liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is among the alternative fuels, is the strongest candidate because it is ready to use and can reduce emissions from ships. For this purpose, we started preparations for the supply of LNG as ship fuel in Turkey. With the participation of Japan-based Sumitomo in 2018 and then Botaş in 2021, we want to make Turkey the LNG refueling center in our region.”

TURK MARINEWS