Crude Oil Transport News

When marine safety collides with environmental advocacy and non-maritime business interests, the discussion can be contentious, confusing and cumbersome. In June 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) opened a public comment period regarding new anchorage zones in the Hudson River; usually a rather low-key set of issues. This proved different. Opponents jumped on the proposal – initially suggested by three maritime organizations – as a backdoor way to facilitate a huge expansion in crude oil shipments on the Hudson.

2016 is off to a flying start when it comes to delivering brand new VLCCs from shipyards in South Korea and China to owners and investor across the globe, says a report BIMCO. The six new VLCCs were delivered in a strong winter market. Having reduced slightly, since the turn of the year, VLCC average earnings currently sit at USD 50,000 per day, in early February. For the full year, an additional 58 VLCCs are scheduled for delivery, but delays and postponements usually decrease that number to a certain degree. Taking that into consideration, BIMCO expects 37 VLCCs to be delivered during the final 11 months of 2016. South Korean shipyards will provide the lion’s share of these newbuilds.

When it comes to delivering brand new VLCCs from shipyards in South Korea and China to owners and investor across the globe, 2016 is off to a flying start. Six new VLCCs were delivered in a strong winter market. Having reduced slightly, since the turn of the year, VLCC average earnings currently sit at $50,000 per day, in early February, reports BIMCO. For the full year, an additional 58 VLCCs are scheduled for delivery, but delays and postponements usually decrease that number to a certain degree.

Rail transport activists, analysts and environmentalists get a real taste of what the waterfront has endured for decades. They’ll just have to get in line with the rest of us. This week finds the collective domestic oil industry wringing its hands about the latest in a series of serious oil transport train casualties. This time, on Monday, the news involved a crude-carrying train that derailed in West Virginia, complete with more than one dozen tank cars afire and necessitating the evacuation of nearby towns. Just before that, another train in Canada consisting of about 100 tank cars carrying crude oil derailed in remote Ontario and suffered a similar fate. Both events naturally caught the attention of environmental and safety activists and oil industry analysts.

Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (KNOT; headquarters: Haugesund, Norway), of which NYK has a 50 percent share, has officially reached an agreement with J. After delivery to NYK, Dan Eagle is assigned to a five-year time-charter for Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. Since their respective deliveries from the shipyard in 2011 and 2012, Dan Cisne and Dan Sabia have each been engaged in a 12-year time-charter for Petrobras Transporte S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobras SA., and these two shuttle tankers will continue to provide this service. This purchase will grow the NYK Group’s shuttle tanker fleet to 28 ships, and the group’s offshore business will resultantly expand with a focus on crude-oil transport from the North Sea and the waters off Brazil.

Marine transport advisors, McQuilling Services, give an insight into how they forecast the development of tanker demand, which is a constituent part of their recently published '2014-2018 Tanker Market Outlook' report. At a global level, marine transportation demand is related to world trade, which is directly related to the state of the world economy. This means that demand for crude oil and petroleum products grows with an expanding global economy. Marine transportation demand for tankers is a derived demand. It arises from the energy consumption requirements of regional economies.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has decided to scrap five double-hull tankers (four VLCCs, one Suezmax) by the end of March 2012. Scrapping of two vessels is already completed, and preparations are under way to start dismantling the other three. All five tankers were crude carriers launched before 1998. MOL, as one of the world’s leading crude oil transport operators, is moving ahead to rejuvenate its fleet, upgrade the quality of its services, and solidify its position in the market, where it expects mid- and long-term growth. Meanwhile, the vessels will be scrapped at yards that conform to the “Guidelines to sell vessels for scrapping from an environmental viewpoint” stipulated by MOL.

Aims at Rejuvenation of the Fleet, Higher-quality Services. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) today announced a decision to scrap five double-hull tankers (four VLCCs, one Suezmax) by the end of March. Scrapping of two vessels is already completed, and preparations are under way to start dismantling the other three. All five tankers were crude carriers launched before 1998. MOL, as one of the world’s leading crude oil transport operators, is moving ahead to rejuvenate its fleet…

MOL says that its joint venture with China’s Sinotrans, MS Tanker Shipping expects to take delivery of a VLCC newbuilding in 2008. A press statement does not specify whether malaccamax ship is a new order at Japan’s Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding or an existing order by MOL. MOL set up M.S. Tanker with Sinotrans, one of China’s major shipping companies, in April, 2004 to meet China’s increasing demand for crude oil transport. The JV has taken ownership of one VLCC and has chartered one another from MOL. Both of these ships, which have single hulls, have mainly traded between the Middle East Gulf and China.

The association of Romanian river shippers said it would sue the Romanian government and NATO over a total estimated loss of $90 million because of the Kosovo conflict. Association president Mircea Toader said the losses had been caused by the embargo on Yugoslavia after the Kosovo war and by the blockage of the Danube. Toader, who was speaking at the end of a meeting in the Danube port town of Galati, said the association -- representing 95 percent of Romania's river shippers -- voted to ask the Romanian state for damages worth $5.4 million for lost crude oil transport contracts during the embargo. The association also announced plans to sue the North Atlantic Treaty Organization over alleged losses indirectly caused by the bombing of Yugoslav bridges.