Shell Ships 'Slurry Oil' from Singapore to UAE
In an unusual arbitrage move, Shell International Eastern Trading Company (SIETCO) has chartered a tanker to ship up to 80,000 tonnes of slurry oil from Singapore to Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Shell has chartered the tanker Maersk Prosper to load 80,000 tonnes of fuel oil from Singapore on Aug. 18 to 20 and for discharge into Ruwais at a $450,000 fee, according to data from two shipbroker reports and a trade source with knowledge of the matter.Ruwais in the UAE is the site of Abu Dhabi National Oil Corp's (ADNOC) 800,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery.The Ruwais refinery rarely imports residual fuel oil products. Since January 2017…
Op/Ed: Shipping's Energy Challenge
There is no more economically and environmentally efficient way of transporting the world’s goods than by sea. Compared to air or road freight, based on per ton of cargo shipped, shipping’s carbon footprint is small. Yet with the 60,000 or so ships that transport 80 percent of the world’s goods emitting about 1.12bn tons of CO2 each year, almost 4.5 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, it is unequivocal that we need a viable way of reducing our environment impact. As other sectors reduce their carbon footprint shipping’s is likely to increase as an overall percentage.
Knowledge Gap Contributing to Increased Cat Fine Claims
With individual claims arising from excessive main engine wear caused by cat fines in the fuel oil likely to exceed $1m, and no sign of the problem being remedied at source, operators will have to take on the responsibility for reducing the incidence of these claims, suggested Braemar SA’s Chief Surveyor for Western Europe, Paul Hill, speaking at this week’s International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) London Conference. Catalytic fines are microscopic particulates that remain in marine fuel oil as a result of the crude oil refining process…
Barge Explodes in Chicago
An explosion onboard the EMC423 tank barge on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Wednesday evening has resulted in the presumed death of a crewmember and the closure of the waterway, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. The tank barge that exploded was carrying approximately 588 thousand gallons of Clarified Slurry Oil. This cargo is a byproduct of the oil refining process and is used to make fuel oils. It was loaded onto the barge at the Exxon Mobile Plant in Joilet, Ill., and was destined for the Ameropan Oil Corporation facility in Cicero, IL. The tank barge involved in the explosion is owned and operated by the Egan Marine Corporation. Egan Marine operates a small fleet of barges and towboats in Lemont, Ill.
