The Zouk power plant on Jan. 27, 2022. (Archive photo: Philippe Hage Boutros)
The Mount McKinney tanker, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, was not authorized to unload its cargo of fuel intended for Électricité du Liban (EDL) due to a technical compliance issue, confirmed the Ministry of Energy and Water in a statement published by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), responding to press reports about the incident.
The ship had anchored off the coast of Tripoli, not far from the Deir Ammar power plant site.
"Energy and Water Minister Joe Saddi decided to send the Mount McKinney tanker away without unloading its gasoil cargo, after laboratory analyses carried out at loading and before unloading revealed the product did not meet three compliance criteria," the statement reads, specifying that the tests were conducted by the General Society of Surveillance (SGS).
"The ministry fulfilled its duty and gave no authorization to dock or unload the vessel while awaiting the test results. It received the results of this sample analysis on the morning of Monday, Dec. 29. As they were non-compliant, it was decided to send the ship away immediately, at no cost to the state," the ministry continued.
These 27,500 tons of gasoil can be used by certain production units at the Deir Ammar (North Lebanon) and Zahrani (South Lebanon) power plants, according to a source at the General Directorate of Oil at the Ministry of Energy and Water. The importing company is Novum Energy Trading, based in Houston.
When contacted, Saddi indicated that the technical compliance issue — usually relating either to the fuel's chemical properties or to performance criteria — does not appear to be the result of any malicious intent on the part of the importer.
"The importer contractually has two weeks to replace the fuel in question at their own expense, in accordance with the terms of reference," the minister added, assuring that EDL was able to handle this supply delay without major impact on subscribers.
The fuel order — gasoil — was placed through a tender issued by the Public Procurement Authority.
The ministry has not yet responded to our requests for clarification on the quantity ordered and the name of the importing company. This delivery is not part of the barter agreement with Iraq in place since 2021 to help EDL cope with its financial difficulties.
