MISC Signs Deals for World’s First Ammonia Dual-Fuel Oil Tankers
Malaysia’s MISC Group has entered into time charter party (TCP) and shipbuilding contracts for the development of world’s first two ammonia dual-fuel Aframax oil tankers.The TCP contract has been signed with Petronas' PETCO Trading Labuan Company (PTLCL), through MISC Group's petroleum arm AET.Using these vessels, PTLCL will be able to transport its products to customers around the world while contributing to the industry decarbonization by utilizing ammonia as the cleaner alternative…
US Receiving Last Russian Oil Cargoes Before Wind-down
Nine tankers carrying Russian-origin crude and fuel oil have discharged in the United States in April, likely the last ones to deliver before a wind-down set by Washington expires this week, customs and tanker tracking data showed.The United States last month set an April 22 ban on imports of Russian crude and refined products. The United States gave importers of Russian petroleum, liquefied natural gas and coal 45 days to take en route and under-contract cargoes.Tanker Seamagic, which loaded fuel oil at Russia’s Taman port, discharged at Valero Energy’s St. Charles, Louisiana, refinery last week, the last of the nine tracked to discharge.
China's Shandong Tanks Are Full, Tankers Await Discharge
Most crude tankers float for less than a week; half of fuel oil tankers are carrying bitumen mixture. More than 20 tankers carrying crude and fuel oil are anchored off the ports of China's eastern Shandong province, as onshore storage tanks are full, according to trade sources and shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon. Frenzied buying by independent refiners, most of whom are located in Shandong, and trading companies seeking to re-sell crude to these refineries have filled up tanks, they said. "Oil inventories at storage tanks are very high," a China-based trader said. Most of the tankers that are carrying crude have been floating off Shandong for less than a week although tanker Seaways Portland, which has Russian ESPO crude onboard, has been in the area for two months, the data showed.
Small Fuel Oil Tanker Freight Rates Tank
Freight rates for small fuel oil tankers in the Mediterranean have taken a long-anticipated hit. "Demand fell off a while back and there's been a build up of old ships, it was bound to happen," said a London tanker broker, who pegged the cross-Med trade for 30,000 tonners at around W185, compared to W210 two weeks ago. Italian brokers said on Wednesday that rates of W170-180 were currently the norm, and blamed holidays in Russia for a lack of fuel oil activity out of the Black Sea. Traders said on Tuesday that low sulfur was relatively balanced with little in the way of fresh demand and few if any cargoes now available. Cargoes were valued in the $129-$131 cif region. "Low sulfur seems to have been disappearing from the market," one regional trader said.
