Tallinn, Estonia

26 April 2011

Stena Primorsk, a 65,000-ton vessel loaded at the port of Murmansk with Fuel Oil, is the first tanker originating from the Russian Arctic to unload its cargo in Tallinn. The tanker that arrives at the Port of Muuga on 26 April 2011, will discharge its cargo at Vopak E.O.S. terminal facilities.

‘The arrival of Stena Primorsk in Tallinn has a symbolical meaning as it completes the latest of logistical routes established via Vopak E.O.S.’ facilities in Muuga port to markets only economically reachable through large tanker transportation’ said Arnout Lugtmeijer, Chairman of Vopak E.O.S. ‘In addition to deliveries from smaller Baltic Sea ports, we have over the past 2 years attracted cargoes in Muuga port, originating from the Black Sea ports of Novorossiysk and Odessa, from the European oil trading center Rotterdam and even from the US Gulf and Venezuela. It seems that the trading companies have found new opportunities in utilizing our terminal facilities to reach directly to the faraway markets’.

One-stop-shop

‘In addition to our strong performance in handling rail delivered cargo flows for mainly the Russian oil majors, we have developed our storage capacity over the past years to establish ourselves as the regional hub for fuel oil, also accommodating tanker deliveries into our storage tanks. Our investments into storage tanks (total capacity [as at 31 March 2011] 1,026,000cbm) and port facilities have provided our customers with the opportunity to bring in cargoes by ship originating from ports with insufficient storage ability to allow for proper quality segregation, or simply with draft restrictions limiting usable tanker size. Nowadays, fuel oil is mostly sold to faraway destinations such as the Asian and US markets which is done more cost efficiently in big tankers’. Lugtmeijer added ‘We call our terminal facility a ‘one-stop-shop’ as once cargo is delivered to our storage capacity - either by rail or ship - it can be traded to any worldwide destination due to our deep water berth facilities allowing the largest utilized tankers to be loaded’.

‘By practically opening this route from the Far North to Tallinn, the map of trading possibilities of Tallinn Port and the entire logistics infrastructure in Estonia is expanded’. Lugtmeijer added that increased activity of logistics and transit sector brings not only growth of economic activity, but also provides tangible benefits like new workplaces, developing labour skills and internationalization of the business environment. ‘The country’s port and rail infrastructure is the backbone of the economy and is the foundation for further development and new trade flows support Estonia in becoming an internationally acclaimed hub for global trade opportunities’.

Stena Primorsk, Liverpool being its home port, is built in 2006 and has a maximum speed of 13.8 knots.

Vopak E.O.S. is the largest and the only independent oil products terminal operator in the Baltic region that provides the customers with a very wide range of services in the area of handling, terminalling, blending, throughput and storage of oil products. Vopak E.O.S. Ltd. operates four modern terminals - Termoil, Trendgate, Pakterminal and Stivterminal - with a total storage capacity of 1,026,000 cbm as at 31 March 2011. Vopak E.O.S. Ltd. is located in the port of Muuga, Estonia, within the Port of Tallinn on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The proximity of Russia and the infrastructure of the Port of Muuga enable Vopak E.O.S. Ltd. to offer opportunities for sea transportation of oil products from Eastern Europe to Western Europe, America and Southeast Asia. The terminals are directly connected to the Estonian Railways, which also gives it an access to Russian Railways. Additionally, all railway operations and logistics from the Russian-Estonian border to the terminals are managed by a wholly owned subsidiary, rail company E.R.S. Vopak E.O.S. is a joint venture of Dutch company Royal Vopak and Global Ports Investments.

Vopak is the world's largest independent tank storage service provider, specializing in the storage and handling of bulk liquid chemicals, gasses and oil products. Vopak operates 80 terminals with a storage capacity of 25.3 million cubic meters in 30 countries. The terminals are strategically located for users along the major shipping routes. The majority of its customers are companies operating in the chemical and oil industries, for which Vopak stores a large variety of products destined for a wide range of industries

For more information please see: http://www.vopak.com/

Global Ports Investments Plc (GPI) is a largest operator of container terminals in Russia by total throughput. It is part of the N-Trans group, a leading transportation and infrastructure holding with operations in Russia, CIS and the Baltic countries.

The GPI's terminals are located in the Baltic and the Far East basins. GPI operates three container terminals in Russia (Petrolesport, Moby Dik in St. Petersburg and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company in the Vostochny Port) and two container terminals in Finland (Multi-Link Helsinki and Multi-Link Kotka). In addition, GPI’s Russian operations in the Baltic basin are augmented by an inland container terminal, Yanino, also located near St. Petersburg.

Global Ports' oil products terminal Vopak E.O.S. Ltd. is the largest and the only independent products terminal operator in the Baltic region capable of accommodating VLCC class tankers. 50% in Vopak E.O.S. are owned by Royal Vopak NV, a strategic partner of Global Ports. Global Ports is a leading container port operator in Russia, representing 30% of container throughput in Russia (Based on throughput of 95 th. TEU in Feb2011 and total market throughput of 320 th.TEU as per ASOP data)

# 1 fuel oil export terminal in the Baltic Basin with 33% market share of Russian fuel oil export (Based on handling volumes of 16.6 mln. tons of Russian fuel oil at Vopak E.O.S. in 2010, compared to total Russian fuel oil exports of 51.0 mln. tons as per Argus data)

For more information please see: http://www.globalports.com/

For additional information:

Olga van Kampen

Communications Manager
Vopak E.O.S. Ltd.
tel. +372 626 6100
e-mail: olga.vankampen@vopakeos.com