• Dedicated tanker berth • Accommodates vessels up to 140 metres in length, 8 metres draft • Direct pipeline link to Petrochem Carless refinery • Tank storage totals 150,000 tonnes at adjacent site

Harwich International Port’s strategic position on the UK east coast makes it ideal for handling a range of hydrocarbons.

Speciality hydrocarbons have been imported and exported through the port since the early 1960s, when Petrochem Carless Ltd’s refinery was opened on a site next to the port.

Half a million tonnes of condensates are distilled at the refinery every year, in their main components naphtha, kerosene and gas oils. Other similar feedstocks are imported for processing alongside these products to create a range of speciality products for industry.

The refinery occupies a 25-hectare site, nine hectares of which are currently undeveloped. Storage capacity totals 150,000 tonnes, in 175 storage tanks ranging from 5 tonnes to 1,300 tonnes.

Petrochem Carless imports feedstock from all over the world to refine at the site; Harwich was chosen for the operation due to the close proximity to the important hydrocarbon ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam.

One of the oldest oil companies in the UK and one of the largest independent speciality hydrocarbon producers and petrochemical distributors in Europe, Petrochem Carless employs approximately 100 people at its Harwich site.

Vessels of up to 140 metres in length can be accommodated at the dedicated deep-water tanker berth, which was built at the port ten years ago at a cost of £4.5 million; the berth is linked by direct pipeline to the refinery.