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Vlcc News

23 Feb 2024

Hanwha Ocean Secures $258M Order for Two VLCCs

(Credit: Hanwha Ocean)

South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean has received an order to construct two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for a shipping company in Oceania.The order for VLCCs, worth $257.8 million (342 billion won), is the first such order for Hanwha Ocean in the last three years. This is also the highest price for the vessels in 16 years, since the 2008 global financial crisis, the company said.The ships will be built at the Geoje plant and delivered to the shipowner in the first and second half of 2026…

13 Feb 2024

Four Japanese Companies Form Consortium for Eco-Friendly VLCCs Concepts

Eco-Friendly VLCC Concept (Credit: NYK)

Idemitsu Tanker, IINO Kaiun Kaisha (IINO Lines), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and Nihon Shipyard have established a consortium to conduct joint research and development of design concepts for Malacca Max-type very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs).The design concepts, including machinery and environment equipment, will be developed with a view of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the consortium that was initiated by Idemitsu Tanker said.Aiming to reduce emissions by 40% or more compared to previous levels…

17 Jan 2024

Hunter Group Signs Charter for Eco-Design VLCC

© Jouni Niskakoski / Adobe Stock

Norwegian shipowner Hunter Group has entered into a three-year back-to-back charterparty for an eco-design and scrubber fitted Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) with an internationally renowned counterparty.Delivery of the 2016-built vessel is expected to take place during March/April 2024.The company will charter the vessel in at a fixed rate of $51,000 per day, before subsequently chartering the vessel out on a floating index-linked spot rate contract."This agreement is yet another…

10 Jan 2024

Surging VLCC Rates Impact US Crude Oil Shipments to Asia

© Andriy Sharpilo / Adobe Stock

The economic incentive to import oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia has closed as the cost of booking supertankers on the route has surged amid a jump in bookings for the vessels, traders said this week.With the arbitrage for U.S. shipments closed, Asian refiners may make up some of the difference with similar Middle Eastern crude oil after top regional producer Saudi Arabia cut their sales prices for February, which is expected to carry over to other regional crudes. The spur…

26 Sep 2023

Mideast-Asia Oil Shipping Rates Rebound, Capped by OPEC+ Supply Cuts

Credit: Carabay/AdobeStock

The cost of chartering a supertanker to load Middle Eastern crude oil for Asia has rebounded from a 19-month low in September, but industry sources expect output supply cuts, led by Saudi Arabia, to cap freight rates for the rest of the year.The world's benchmark very large crude carrier (VLCC) export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan, known as TD3, rose to W50.46 on Monday in the Worldscale measure of freight rates, LSEG data showed. It fell to W35.60 in September…

13 Sep 2023

US Dirty Tanker Export Demand Jumps

Source: BIMCO

During the first eight months of 2023, US dirty tanker export demand increased 33% year-on-year while the global dirty tanker exports increased only 5%. Measured in deadweight tonne miles, US exports now account for 14% of global dirty tanker demand, says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.US oil production has increased since 2013 while US refinery runs peaked before the COVID pandemic. This has allowed dirty tanker exports to increase from 0.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2016 to 3.5 mbpd during the first eight months of 2023.

10 Aug 2023

Pavilion Energy, CNOOC Complete First Bunker Delivery to LNG-powered VLCC

Credit: Pavilion Energy

Singapore's Pavilion Energy and China's CNOOC Gas and Power Group completed their first liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship-to-ship bunker operation for a very large crude carrier (VLCC) at China's Guangzhou port, the companies said on Thursday.A total of 2,800 metric tons of LNG was delivered from CNOOC's LNG bunker vessel Hai Yang Shi You 301 to the VLCC Maran Dione, owned by Angelicoussis Group's Maran Tankers Management (MTM), the companies said in a joint statement.The bunker operation came after Pavilion Energy…

15 Jun 2023

Supertanker Freight Rates Jump as Mideast Crude Exports to Asia Rise

©Carabay/AdobeStock

The costs of chartering supertankers to move crude oil from the Middle East to Asia have jumped to the highest since April as more cargoes are being booked in June, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon.The rate for a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) from the Middle East to China, Japan and Singapore is assessed at just above worldscale 80 on Thursday, according to shipbroking firm Meiwa International, the highest levels since April. Worldscale (W) is an industry…

04 Apr 2023

Venezuela's March Oil Exports Rise on More Supertankers, Chevron Cargoes

©Carabay/AdobeStock

Venezuela's oil exports rose in March to the highest monthly average since August, boosted by a resumption of loadings after an export freeze and by rising cargoes assigned to Chevron Corp, according to documents and shipping data.State oil company PDVSA has reinstated two export contracts after a January freeze by new boss Pedro Tellechea: a medium-term contract with Hangzhou Energy, and another with Portugal-based Adinius Sociedade de Servicios, the documents showed. Those two customers accounted for a large portion of exports…

05 Dec 2022

Russian Oil Sanctions Fuel Demand for Old Tankers

©Vladimir/AdobeStock

The market for old oil tankers is booming, and it's all down to efforts by Western nations to curb trade in Russian crude.As Western shipping and maritime services firms steer clear of Russian oil to avoid falling foul of sanctions or harming their reputations, new companies have leapt into the void, and they're snapping up old tankers that might normally be scrapped.The European Union banned all seaborne Russian crude imports from Dec. 5, with a fuel import ban to follow in February.

22 Nov 2022

Indonesia: Pertamina's Shipping Unit Eyes $3B Investment to Rejuvenate Vessel Fleet

© Carabay/AdobeStock

Pertamina International Shipping, a unit of Indonesia's state energy firm, aims to invest up to $3 billion over the next five years to rejuvenate and expand its fleet, including investing in vessels to transport liquefied natural gas, an executive said. Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) operates more than 400 vessels, including three very large crude carriers (VLCC) and two very large gas carriers (VLGC). "We will invest big in replacing vessels," Wisnu Santoso, a director at PIS told reporters on Tuesday.

03 Jun 2022

Hyundai Heavy Delivers VLCC to Okeanis Eco Tankers

Illustration - Credit: Carabay/AdobeStock

Oslo-listed tanker firm Okeanis Eco Tankers has taken delivery of the VLCC Nissos Nikouria. South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries delivered the tanker and this is the second, Gas Ready (MEc), ECO-design, open-loop scrubber-fitted 300,000 DWT VLCC crude tanker delivered to Okeanis Eco Tankers following the purchase deal announced in mid-2021.The first was Nissos Kea, delivered in March 2022.According to the information on the company's website, its sailing fleet consists of six modern scrubber-fitted Suezmax tankers and eight modern scrubber-fitted VLCC tankers.

02 Mar 2022

TOP Ships Takes Delivery of Supertanker M/T Legio X Equestris

Credit: TOP Ships

Tanker operator TOP Ships said Wednesday it had taken delivery of the "very high specification" scrubber fitted, 300,000 dwt newbuilding Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (VLCC) vessel M/T Legio X Equestris.Built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea, the vessel is gearing up to start its previously announced time charter in a few days.The charter is with an unnamed major oil trader. The contract is for three years with two yearly extensions at the charterer’s option.

25 Feb 2022

Oil Tanker Rates are Soaring

©alexyz3d/AdobeStock

Oil tanker rates are soaring globally as traders scramble to cope with jitters over possible disruption in Russian supplies, as well as war risk premiums for ships plying the Mediterranean region following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.Shipowners are also grappling with higher fuel costs after oil prices soared nearly $2 per barrel on Friday, with Brent back above $100. The global energy sector is concerned that Europe and the United States may impose sanctions on Russian exports and severely disrupt supplies.

02 Mar 2022

Distressed Venezuelan Supertanker Discharging Oil Cargo in Asia - Sources

A U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela-owned supertanker that had mechanical problems since January is transferring its 2-million-barrel cargo of heavy crude to other vessels in Asia, according to three people familiar with the matter.The very large crude carrier (VLCC) Maximo Gorki left Venezuela in November amid an export push designed to generate funds for cash-strapped state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which has been under U.S. trading sanctions since 2019.Aging infrastructure problems, including a lack of oil storage and vessels, frequent refinery outages and export port congestion, are undermining PDVSA's increased oil production, impeding efforts to boost revenue, according to company documents and sources.

02 Nov 2021

Standard Drilling Sells Stake in VLCC Gustavia S

Norwegian investment company Standard Drilling said Tuesday it had sold its 33.3% ownership in the VLCC Gustavia S, following the updated company strategy. Standard Drilling, which in 2013 sold off its offshore drilling rigs, only to return as offshore vessel owner in 2016, in January 2020 entered the tanker market by acquiring a 33.3% ownership in the newly built Gustavia S VLCC.Now, the company has sold its stake in the 300 000 TDW ECO Design Crude Oil Tanker built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co and fitted with scrubber technology delivered by Wärtsila. The transaction values the vessel at USD 93 million, where Standard…

27 Aug 2021

Fujairah Oil Terminal Invests in VLCC project. Expects Surge in Oil Trade

File Photo: Fujairah Oil Terminal

The Fujairah Oil Terminal is investing an estimated $45 million to upgrade the infrastructure at its storage facilities, betting on a surge in crude trading and storage demand at the United Arab Emirates oil hub, the company's chairman told Reuters.FOT's expansion, financed by a new $280 million debt facility, will connect its terminal to the Port of Fujairah's very large crude carrier (VLCC) loading facility and the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) pipeline, said Steve Bickerton…

20 Aug 2021

DNV Grants AiP for Samsung Heavy's VLCC Fuel Ready Design

Illustration only - Credit:Carabay

Classification society DNV has awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Samsung Heavy Industries for a "Fuel Ready" (ammonia, D, S, Ti) class notation for its 300,000 dwt LNG-fueled very large crude carrier (VLCC) design.SHI has developed a fuel ready concept for a VLCC with dual fuel diesel/ammonia as a potential fuel combination after conversion from dual fuel diesel/LNG. "The AiP award confirms the general feasibility of the design. It was found that there are no showstoppers in realizing the DNV class notation “Fuel Ready” after examining the shipyard’s drawings.

19 Jul 2021

International Seaways, Diamond S Shipping Merge. Become 2nd Largest U.S.-listed Tanker Firm

Illustration - Seaways Montauk tanker - Credit: Claudio Ritossa

International Seaways, one of the world's oil largest tanker operators, petroleum products, has completed the previously announced merger with Diamond S Shipping Inc. The combined company will continue to operate as International Seaways and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol INSW. International Seaways expects to achieve cost synergies in excess of $23 million and revenue synergies of $9 million, which are expected to be fully realizable within 2022."Following the completion of the merger…

19 Jul 2021

China Launches Energy Efficient VLCC

CS Hunan Venture - Credit: CSS

CS Hunan Venture very large crude carrier, dubbed one of the most advanced and energy-efficient VLCCs ever built in China, was recently launched by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group (DSIC).The vessel is owned by China Shipbuilding Consulting Company and operated by Wah Kwong Ship Management Hong Kong.Fan Qiang, Vice President of China Classification Society which conducted extensive survey of the vessel, said the CS Hunan Venture’s innovative design means its Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) is more than 20pc below the baseline…

13 Apr 2021

ADNOC L&S Adds Two More VLCCs to Its Fleet

Credit: ADNOC L&S

Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC Logistics & Services, the shipping and maritime logistics branch of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), has ordered two additional Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), bringing the total number of VLCCs added to its fleet in 2021 to eight.ADNOC L&S said Tuesday that the VLCC fleet expansion played a significant role in supporting ICE Murban Futures, which is expected to boost trading of the UAE’s flagship Murban crude oil, enabling it to reach new customers and markets around the globe.

11 Mar 2021

Shell to Charter 10 New Dual-Fuel Crude Tankers

Oil major Shell has signed agreements to charter ten new crude tankers powered by dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines, with the company planning to halve half of the long-term chartered crude tankers run on LNG in 2023.Four of the very large crude carriers (VLCCs) have been chartered from Advantage Tankers, three from AET, and three from International Seaways. All 10 ships will be built in South Korea by DSME, the first operational from 2022, and be on charter to Shell…

23 Feb 2021

Euronav Sells and Leases Back VLCC Newton

File Photo: Euronav

Belgian tanker operator Euronav said Tuesday it had entered into a sale and leaseback agreement for the very large crude carrier Newton with China's Taiping & Sinopec Financial Leasing Ltd Co. The VLCC was sold for $36 million."The transaction produced a capital gain of about $2.4 million. After repayment of the existing debt, the transaction generated $19 million free cash," Euronav said.The company has now leased back the 2009-built, 307,284 DWT VLCC under a 36-month bareboat contract at an average rate of $22,500 per day.

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