The marine terminals

The Sarlux plant overlooks the sea on the south-western coast of Sardinia – a strategic position in the centre of the Mediterranean – and all the incoming raw materials and a significant part of the oil products leaving the site are carried by sea.

Sarlux’s marine terminals are supervised by the Cagliari Port Authority. The incoming raw materials used in the production cycle consist mainly of crude oil and, in small quantities, fuel oils and other semi-processed hydrocarbons.

In order to be admitted to the Sarlux marine terminal, all incoming tankers must comply with strict safety standards based on internationally recognised criteria, plus additional requirements put in place by Sarlux.

see also Protection of the sea and coasts

800 ships per year

The Sarroch plant is located on the coast, and its marine terminals are its gateway to the world. Most of the crude oil for processing is delivered to the refinery by oil tanker, likewise, most of the finished product is shipped by sea.

The incoming raw materials and intermediate products and the outgoing finished products pass through two terminals, called the South Wharf and the North Wharf.

The marine terminal connected to the refinery consists of a 1,600-long pier and fixed platforms called ‘islands’ connected to the pier by a 1,200 m piling. Almost all the incoming raw materials and most of the outgoing oil products pass through this terminal.
The terminal has 11 independent docking berths, 9 of which are for shipping finished oil products and receiving semi-processed materials. It can accommodate oil tankers of up to 85,000 deadweight tonnage.
In addition to these berths, there are two platforms for the docking of ships with a deadweight capacity of up to 300,000 tonnes for the reception of crude oils.
The different berthing points can operate at the same time, thus minimising waiting times for ships at anchor.
Advanced monitoring systems ensure that all unloading and loading operations are carried out under conditions of maximum safety.
The phases of tanker berthing stay at berth and connection of the loading arms for transferring the raw materials and finished products to and from the tanker are continuously monitored.

The north pier has two berthing points, ‘A1’ and ‘A2’, which can accommodate tankships of different capacities and allow the transfer of different products.
The length from the foot of the pier to the farthest platform, ‘A1’ is 1,125 m, while the intersection with platform A2 lies at 727.5 m along the wharf.
The two platforms, equipped for the handling of petroleum products, chemicals and LPG, can accommodate vessels up to 212 m long, with a draught of 10.2 m and 36,000 tonnes deadweight.

Well before this was a legal requirement, Sarlux restricted mooring at its piers to double-hull tankers only, to ensure safe transport of crude oil and protection of the sea.

In addition to complying with strict international safety standards, the tankers authorised to dock at our marine terminals must comply with other minimum safety standards set by Sarlux, enabling us to obtain a datasheet for each vessel: a precious source of information for our marine terminal staff, which they analyse to decide which ships are fit for docking and which, instead, fall short of Sarlux requirements.

The marine terminals are managed by a dedicated operations centre, fully renovated and equipped with the best control technologies. The centre, which is manned and operational 24 hours a day, is in constant radio contact with the ships at the terminal to verify that all crude unloading and product loading operations – including ship mooring and connection to the arms for loading/offloading products – are carried out in full compliance with all safety and environmental protection requirements.

The refinery also has a round-the-clock spill response system in place, with dedicated staff and vessels, guaranteeing fast response in the event of product spillages, in accordance with the Internal emergency plan, which also includes the Marine pollution prevention plan.