The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has stated that it is currently not in a position to issue fuel on credit to fishing vessels from its facilities.
Regarding the issue of a large number of vessels having to remain docked without enough diesel to go fishing, MIFCO said that fuel will be supplied from all facilities on a cash-payment basis, depending on availability. Furthermore, MIFCO stated that given the company's current situation, fuel cannot be issued on credit to any vessel at this time.
"From the efforts made so far, we do not yet see a way to issue fuel on credit. MIFCO is not in a position to issue fuel on credit. All control of fuel lies with STO. With fishing being poor for up to 5 months and MIFCO's backlog growing, obtaining fuel from STO is currently very difficult. We are working tirelessly to resolve this. For now, we have received a limited stock from STO," MIFCO said.
While the issuance of diesel on credit from MIFCO facilities has been halted, some facilities currently do not even have enough diesel for vessels to purchase. Vessels that normally load fuel from the Kooddoo Fisheries Complex said that it has become difficult to go fishing because diesel is not available even if they pay in cash. It is noted that the fishermen of Huvadhoo Atoll are bearing the brunt of this hardship.
"We burn five barrels of fuel just to travel from our island to Kooddoo. When we went to Kooddoo to get fuel, they couldn't sell the amount I asked for. The 5 barrels of fuel were also burned. We suffered losses from all sides. On average, we need to load 15 barrels to go fishing. Because of this, we had to dock the vessel," a fisherman from Thinadhoo said.
MIFCO said that it is working to improve this situation. In situations where fuel stock is low, MIFCO sites generally sell fuel on a controlled basis.
