Basra Oil Terminal News

"Pure" chartering market with little disruption. Rates to hold around W45 for Middle East; W48 for West Africa. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are likely to hold steady around existing levels as new vessel deliveries and a reduction in port delays weigh on a ample cargo market, ship brokers said. "The market will not be majorly different next week. VLCC rates have been limping along," a Singapore-based supertanker broker said on Friday. New tanker deliveries, vessels returning to service from repair yards, minimal scrapping of older ships and little port congestion have all contributed to swell the number of ships available for charter, brokers said. "It's a pure market from the point there is virtually no disruption," the Singapore broker said.

Around 47 MidEast charters fixed for July loading so far; older tonnage and new vessels a drag on freight rates. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are set to nudge higher next week after moving above nine-month lows on increased charters this week, ship brokers said on Friday, although gains will be capped by ample tanker availability. "The market is still rubbish, but it has turned," a Singapore-based supertanker broker said on Friday. "There is plenty of fixing to come in the rest of the month, but there are still plenty of ships available," the broker said. Around 47 VLCC charters have been concluded to load Middle East crude in the first 20 days of July compared with a monthly average this year of about 120-135, the broker said. "I doubt we see rates climb very high.

Nearly 30 large oil tankers waiting to load at Basra; daily VLCC tanker rates have doubled to nearly $75,000. A traffic jam of nearly 30 large oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra due to loading delays, with some waiting up to three weeks and costing ship operators around $75,000 a day per vessel. Shippers and port sources said more delays are expected throughout April as the city's facilities struggle to cope with Iraq's soaring crude output. The problems at Basra, coupled with continuing storage tank shortages in China, have pushed supertanker rates from the Middle East to Asia to unseasonal highs as the delays disrupt future sailing schedules and charterers cover future tonnage requirements.

In Iraq, Saipem has been awarded by South Oil Company the EPIC contract for the Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project – Phase 2, within the framework of the expansion of the Basra Oil Terminal, off the Al Faw Peninsula in the Arabian Gulf, approximately 550 kilometres south-east of Baghdad. The contract encompasses the engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of a Central Metering and Manifold Platform (CMMP), to be installed in a water depth of 28 metres, along with associated facilities.

Iraq's recovery depends on oil revenues, and the Khawr Abd Amaya Oil Terminal, better known here as KAAOT and the nearby larger Al Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT), are the platforms upon which Iraq's economy depends. Nearly all of Iraq's revenue comes from crude oil, and nearly all of it leaves the country here. These two crude oil transfer terminals in the Northern Arabian Gulf or 'NAG' can accommodate large tankers carrying Iraq's crude oil output that is pumped to the oil platforms (known as OPLATS) by pipeline from Basra.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) moves thru the Bay of Bengal after making a port call in Singapore. Lake Champlain is part of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, currently deployed in support of the global war on terrorism and maritime security operations (MSO). U.S. While there is a ring of steel around the Iraqi oil terminal platforms in the Northern Persian Gulf, small rubber boats with special boat crews do much of the heavy lifting for security and stability in the area. Coalition ships move continuously around the Al Basra Oil Terminal and the Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal, and each sends out small boat crews aboard rigid-hulled inflatable boats to conduct VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) missions. "They are the 'beat cops' for the area," said Capt.

The BBC News reports that the problem was highlighted over the weekend, when a luxury cruise liner was attacked and pursued by pirates. The greatest number of attacks overall were off Indonesia, with 61 of a total of 205 attacks reported worldwide. Globally, though, reports indicate that attacks fell 18 percent in the first nine months of 2005 on the same period of 2004, said the report from the International Maritime Bureau. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says in the nine-month period of 2005, 141 ships were boarded, 15 fired upon and 11 were hijacked. Of the 259 crewmembers taken hostage, 12 are still missing. The most alarming rise in attacks was off the eastern and north-eastern coast of Somalia, where attacks shot up from one in 2004 to 19 in 2005.