Inspectorate, one of the world's leading independent inspection and testing organisations, has opened a facility in Malta.

With origins stretching back over 150 years, Inspectorate is a multinational group with capabilities in an extensive range of commodities, providing independent inspection, sampling and testing services round the clock.

Its network of laboratories, located in key trading locations around the world, provide precision analytical testing to both internationally recognised standards and customer-specific methodologies.

Customers include oil majors, commodity traders, financial institutions, governments, mining and refining companies.

Inspectorate has more than 6,500 experienced and highly trained professionals in over 125 countries, wherever cargoes are being loaded, discharged or transferred. Inspectorate recognised the strong strategic role Malta plays in the world oil trading industry. Its presence on the island was part of its strategy to expand its network and increase its market share in the Mediterranean.

The facility was officially opened in late May by regional director John Hodson and country manager Paul Mark Parnis.

The company's state-of-the-art petroleum laboratory is capable of testing marine fuels and gasoil to ISO 8217 and EN 590 specifications respectively with a view for further expansion to other petroleum products.