The Oiltanking Group has acquired 100% of the shares of Colon Oil and Service SA (COASSA) and Colon Port Terminal SA (CPT). These companies will be renamed Oiltanking Colon SA and will be managed and operated by Oiltanking.
Oiltanking Colon SA is located at the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, within the breakwater at Cocosolo Bay.
The aim of the terminal is to accommodate increasing demand for marine fuels by vessels transiting the Panama Canal and calling ports in the area.
The first phase of the terminal is under construction and will be commissioned in the third quarter of 2011. It consists of 300,000 barrels of tank capacity for storage and handling of marine fuels along with an exclusive 260-meter jetty with a draft of 12.5 meter and ability to receive PANAMAX vessels. The jetty has also two barge positions.
Additionally, Oiltanking is already working on the first expansion of 450,000 barrels and truck loading facilities, which is expected to be operational in 2012. The terminal still has land available for further construction.
Oiltanking is a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls AG, Germany, a privately owned petroleum company. Oiltanking owns and operates 71 terminals in 22 countries and has an overall storage capacity exceeding 17.6 million cubic meters.