Fast, efficient and safe bunkering at sea is not for the faint-hearted. Nor is cleaning up after an oil accident at sea. This is business which requires years of experience and know-how, combined with great problem-solving skills and the ability to quickly jump to action in any challenge. OljOla Shipping is up for it.
Bunkering and pollution response is the core business of the Gothenburg-based company OljOla Shipping. The company name is most suited to the business, being derived from the Swedish word for oil (olja) and the founder’s name, Ola Nilsson. OljOla Shipping was established in 1978 as a fuel station on the island of Donsö, where Ola was born. Today, the company is solely focusing on shipping, with two vessels up for the job; Norden (2870 dwt) and Oljaren (1052 dwt).
Safety First
The motto of shipping is “Safety First”. Despite all efforts to prevent accidents at sea, they still occur. Therefore, it is necessary to employ several players in pollution response, quick on the mark and available all hours to take the call if anything goes wrong.
OljOla’s area for response is primarily around the Scandinavian coastlines and northern Europe. At the same time, OljOla takes on the day to day business of fast and efficient bunkering at sea. The ambition is of course to prevent all accidents, injuries and occupational illnesses, just as much as it is to prevent environmental damage through oil accidents. Safety work has top priority throughout the entire organisation.
Partnership results in newbuilding
Just like any other product tanker company, OljOla’s business is largely depending on the oil and product markets. Being able to charter long-term trades means survival and profit, and this phenomenon requires good partnerships where sustainability and reliability means everything.
“The partnerships we have today are results of many years collaboration and development”, says Tom Nilsson, Fleet Manager and the son of OljOla founder Ola Nilsson.
One such partnership has over many years been built with Stena Oil. This close cooperation with has in turn resulted in a newbuilding contract with PaxOcean Group in China for an advance 5600 dwt bunker/product tanker. The project is a joint venture involving OljOla as owner with full technical management and Stena Oil as commercial operator. Delivery is expected at the end of Q1-2020.
“The design of the vessel has been developed by us and Stena with high focus on operational flexibility and a high environmental and safety profile”, Tom Nilsson continues.
“The philosophy of the vessel is to use the operational advantages developed in our previous vessels and bring this to a larger sized bunker tanker, providing safe and efficient bunker operations anywhere at all times”.
The new vessel will strengthen OljOla’s position as a dedicated service provider in bunkering and pollution response in northern Europe. The utmost goal is to meet the requirements in any form of today’s market of shipping and ideally provide solutions before the need arises.
