The Buckeye/BORCO team who presented at the event held at Pelican Bay, in Freeport. (Photo: Derek Carroll)

Freeport, Bahamas – Buckeye Bahamas (BORCO) met with over 100 of their local and international contractors recently to review their successes and improvements from 2014 and set the goals for the new year.

“We’ve been working with many of these companies and their teams for years,” said Robert Gaffney, V. P. International Operations. “Our goal today is to review our accomplishments, explain our goals for 2015 and beyond, and most importantly remind our partners about our new safety requirements, new VAT invoicing and our guidelines to meet both local and US regulatory compliance.”

Gaffney and his team have increased the Grand Bahama oil terminal storage capabilities to approximately 26.1 million barrels of fuel oil, crude oil, and clean petroleum products. Since Buckeye’s purchase of BORCO, it has invested 450 million dollars to increase the size, flexibility, and complexity of services offered. Additionally, BORCO now boasts eight berths, including two capable of berthing the world’s largest vessels.

Reviewing the Commercial team’s goals, Keith Neal, Senior Director Product Marketing, noted that Buckeye has developed a premier liquids terminal with unmatched capabilities internationally. As he reviewed the company’s goals for the year and beyond, Neal noted that “everyone here plays an integral part in achieving the success we foresee and that we, as a team can only achieve these results with a strong collaborative effort.”

(Photo: Derek Carroll)

To strengthen their message of teamwork, the BORCO staff concentrated on clarifying their safety concerns for companies working at the facility and the new requirements for all contractors. As of April 2015, all staff working in the facility will be required to wear H2S monitors as well as take an OSHA course (health and safety awareness), to help workers reduce the risk of workplace hazards. Summing up the team’s presentation was Buckeye’s Asst. General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Patrick Monaghan, who reviewed the company’s code of conduct. “It is imperative to our company that all the playing fields are level and that all vendors feel they have been treated fairly.”

The afternoon presentation was attended by contractors, owners, managers and accounts personnel. “It was a good meeting” said Joseph Bain, owner of B&H Construction. “It clarified some information for me and it was good to hear about the success of the facility.” Bain added “I like that Borco is concerned about our safety too and they are working with us to improve all our standards, so we all work as safe as possible.”

Godfrey Waugh, of Waugh Construction, agreed with this sentiment, adding, “It was an informative meeting and good to know the compliance rules apply to all. Also, it’s good to know you are bidding fairly and that they watch these things. It was also great to hear that we can bid on work on other islands too such as St. Lucia and Puerto Rico where Buckeye has other terminals – great news for Bahamians.”