West Indies Petroleum (WIP) commissioned its new WIP Endeavor barge with its tugboat the 2200 HP WIP Spirit at the Victoria Pier in downtown Kingston yesterday.

WIP is a ship bunker supplier, which blends fuel to the customer’s specification, to provide a wide range of fuels including Marine Gas Oil. The company supplies fuel to all nine ports across Jamaica.

The all-Jamaican entrepreneurial bunkering company, which started in 2012, now has two barges and two tugboats, with the recent purchase of these vessels from Texas in the United States. The WIP Dependable and WIP BunkerJam 1 were previously purchased from Petrojam.

The commissioning was a very proud moment for the new company, and meant that the dream that five Jamaicans could combine their diverse skills to become a significant participant in the development of the logistics hub had now become a reality, according to John Levy, a WIP director.

All told, the vessels represent an investment of something in the region of US$7 million, WIP director Charles Chambers told the Jamaica Observer.

The company delivers fuel to customers in Kingston from its barges, and makes about 75 truck deliveries per week to other ports, including three cruise vessels in Montego Bay, Chambers said.

The local company now competes head-on with international companies such as Aegean and Petrotech, but does so with a Jamaican staff.

“Over 95 per cent of our crew are graduates of the Caribbean Maritime Institute,” Levy noted. The company currently has a crew of 10 for each of the tug vessels.

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, lauded the company and the fact that “100 per cent of the empoyees are skilled Jamaican employees.”

“These are entrepreneurs. They are risk takers. And it’s not easy taking risks these days,” Paulwell said. “You could have stayed in your corner,” he said, “but you have decided to take the plunge.”

After the dedication of the Endeavor by Bishop Robert Thompson, the DJ played the theme song of the night once more. “Big ship sailing on the ocean,” sang Freddie MacGregor, “we don’t need no commotion.”

In additiion to the new vessels, Levy announced that the company would be offering a scholarship valued at $1 million.