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Arkas Bunkering and Trading S.A. reports it supplied the drillship Noble Globetrotter II with what it claims to be the biggest amount of marine gas oil (MGO) that has ever been delivered during a single operation in Turkey.

Arkas Bunkering used the largest bunker barge in its fleet, the M/T Çesme, to deliver 2,130 tonnes of MGO in Gemlik to Noble Globetrotter II - a vessel that is conducting oil exploration operations in the Black Sea.

With a height of 87 metres, the Noble Globetrotter II exceeds the height limit stipulated in the Turkish Straits passage regulations. The ship therefore had to undergo specific modifications before travelling to the Black Sea last year.

It set off from West Africa and first passed through the Dardanelles and then on to Gemlik. The vessel's northbound passage through the Bosphorus was completed in April, accompanied by two tugboats. After receiving MGO from Arkas Bunkering in Gemlik, the Noble Globetrotter II then sailed on to Bulgarian territorial waters to conduct its oil exploration activities.

The 4,137-deadweight-tonne (dwt), 90-metre-long M/T Çesme was added to Arkas Bunkering's fleet of vessels in November, bringing the company's total number of delivery barges to six. It is double-hulled and Turkey-flagged and the country's biggest bunker vessel.

According to Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA), or Enerji Piyasasi Düzenleme Kurumu (EPDK) in Turkish, Arkas Bunkering was the leading bunker supplier in Turkey in 2015.

In its 2015 Fuel Oil Market Report, EPDK said the company's sales increased by 233,932 tonnes, or 52.8 percent, to 677,001 tonnes last year, up from 443,069 tonnes in 2014.

Sales of marine fuel in the country's leading bunker port, Istanbul, are currently estimated at around 2 million tonnes per annum.