Navig8 News

The U.S. Navy said it had intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, in the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the area since 2019.In a statement, the U.S. Navy said that at 0100 local time (2100 GMT), an Iranian naval vessel had approached the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss in international waters in the Gulf of Oman."The Iranian vessel departed the scene when U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived on station…

U.S. and Canadian refiners have turned to North Sea "Forties" crude oil for the first time in seven years in the latest sign of changing global oil flows from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 2.6 million barrels of the crude are set to arrive at U.S. East Coast ports since February, according to Customs data on Refinitiv Eikon. Some of the oil is likely headed to Canada via pipeline. The light, low-sulfur Forties crudes are blended with others to replace Russian crudes that have been barred from the U.S. and Canada. Prior to the ban, about 50% of all crude from Russian ports that landed in the U.S. went to East Coast refineries, the customs data showed. The tanker Sea Turtle in February discharged 770,000 barrels of Forties and Forties blend crudes in Maine, destined for Suncor Energy.

Shipowner Scorpio Tankers announced this week that it has exercised a purchase option for an LR2 product tanker that is currently leased.The 2016-built, 109,999 dwt STI Sanctity was acquired as part of the acquisition of Navig8 Product Tankers in 2017. The lease bears interest at LIBOR plus a margin of 5.4% per annum.The purchase, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2023, is expected to result in a debt reduction of $27.8 million for the company, Scorpio said.Scorpio Tankers currently owns, lease finances or bareboat charters-in 113 product tankers, including 39 LR2 tankers, 60 MR tankers and 14 Handymax tankers, with an average age of 6.7 years.

U.S. oil companies are working around a century-old shipping law to supply fuel to the U.S. East Coast, according to data from Refinitiv and oil trading sources, as high demand for gasoline and global disruptions in fuel markets sent prices higher.Traders are increasingly sending unfinished gasoline components from the Gulf Coast to Buckeye Partners LP’s terminal in the Bahamas, also known as Borco, where they are blended into finished gasoline to be sent to the U.S. East Coast. The uncommon trade is a sign of heavy demand for products up and down the coast, home of some of the nation's largest consumer markets.The trade represents a legal workaround to the Jones Act, which requires goods moved between U.S. ports to be carried by ships built domestically and staffed by U.S.

The Korean Register (KR) awarded approval in principal (AIP) to two green ammonia-fueled ships at KR’s Seoul branch office on December 15, 2021. One of the ships is a 60,000m3 ammonia-fueled ammonia carrier and the other is a 38,000m3 ammonia carrier/bunkering ship, developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD).The AIP is the first result from the ‘Green Ammonia Marine Transport and Bunkering Consortium’ which was launched in May 2021.

Shipowner Ocean Yield has completed the sale of the Navig8 Amessi chemical tanker to Navig8 Chemical Tankers.Navig8 Chemical Tankers Inc. had in January declared the purchase option on the 2015-built chemical tanker. It was then said Navig8 would pay USD 26.5 million for the transaction.Ocean Yield on Wednesday said the transaction for the Hyundai-built tanker was successfully completed."Following repayment of the bank debt on the vessel, the transaction will give net cash proceeds of about USD 9.7 million for Ocean Yield. The transaction is not expected to have any impact on the net results for Q3 2020," Ocean Yield said.According to MarineTraffic, the Navig8 Amessi is currently at anchor near Panama City, Panama, waiting to pass through the Panama Channel.

Norwegian ship owner and operator Ocean Yield ASA has taken delivery of three long range 2 (LR2) product tankers built in China.The three LR2 product tankers are Navig8 Pride (2018-built), Navig8 Providence (2018-built) and Navig8 Prestige (2019-built). The vessels were acquired from a major Chinese leasing company with about 9 year’s remaining bareboat charters to Navig8 Topco Holdings Inc.The fourth vessel, the “Navig8 Precision” is expected to be delivered next week. All four vessels are fitted with scrubbers and built in 2018 and 2019.Following the latest acquisition, Ocean Yield’s fleet currently comprises about 70 vessels.Ocean Yield ASA is a ship owning company with investments in vessels on long-term charters.

Navig8 Chemical Tankers, an international shipping company focused on the transportation of chemicals,  has agreed to enter four of its 25,000-dwt chemical tankers into a pool operated by the Norwegian tanker owner and operator Odfjell.Following the delivery of the vessels, the 'Chempool25' will total 19 vessels with Odfjell contributing with ten vessels, CTG five vessels and N8CTI four vessels. Odfjell will continue to be the operator of all vessels in the pool.“We are pleased to welcome N8CTI as a partner. N8CTI brings first-class vessels to the pool, and we look forward to the cooperation and to further develop our pool partnerships,” said Kristian Mørch, CEO of Odfjell SE.

Shipping company Navig8 Product 2020 has taken delivery of a new scrubber-fitted MR tanker, the Navig8 Gauntlet.The  international shipping company focused on the transportation of  Clean Petroleum Products (CPP) said that the 49,000 dwt vessel was delivered from Japan’s New Times Shipbuilding and is the sixth unit in a series of eight such scrubber-fitted tankers in the company’s newbuilding program.The Navig8 Guantlet will be entered into and operated in Navig8 Group’s Chronos8 commercial pool, it said.Last month, the company took delivery of the Navig8 Goal. The scrubber-fitted MR tanker from New Times Shipbuilding has entered into and operated in Navig8 Group’s Chronos8 commercial pool.

Navig8 Product 2020, an international shipping company,  has announced that it has taken delivery of the Navig8 Promise.Its the seventh 110,600 DWT scrubber-fitted LR2 tanker from New Times Shipbuilding.The Navig8 Promise will be entered into and operated in Navig8 Group’s Alpha8 commercial pool.The crude oil tanker built in 2019 will sail under the flag of Marshall Islands.Navig8 is a fully integrated provider of shipping management services and the world’s largest independent pool and commercial management company.

Navig8 Chemical Tankers  entered into sale and leaseback agreements with ICBC Financial Leasing for four ships.The tanker company focuses on the maritime transportation of Chemicals worldwide said in a press release that the net proceeds from the transaction of four of the Company’s IMO2 37,000 DWT Interline coated tankers  were $94,710,000.A portion of the proceeds was utilized to repay existing loans used to finance the Vessels’ newbuilding contracts under the multi-bank loan facility announced by the Company on February 3, 2015.Under the sale and leaseback agreements, the Vessels were sold and delivered to ICBC. The Company has entered into bareboat charters with ICBC for the Vessels.Navig8 has purchase options to re-acquire the vessels during the charter period…

Navig8 VL8 pool is to take delivery of two VLCCs from Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation (CSET). The VL8 pool is one of the largest VLCC tanker pools in the world managed by Navig8.The 322,860dwt Xin Lian Yang (built 2014) will deliver to the pool later this month, with a second modern unit to be delivered during November."We are extremely excited to have received CSET's commitment and welcome CSET as a partner," said Jason Klopfer, Navig8 managing director.This increases the number of committed vessels to 24 in the VL8 Pool.Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation is engaged in the shipment of oil and cargoes along the coast of the People’s Republic of China and internationally.

The New York-based Gener8 Maritime Inc. (GNRT) reported a loss of $45.4 million for the fourth-quarter ended December 31, 2017, after reporting a profit of $5.8 million in the same period a year earlier. The crude oil transportation services provider reported a loss of $168.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. Gener8 Maritime has increased full fleet "ECO" operating days to 65.1% in the three months ended December 31, 2017, compared to 43.4% in the same period in the prior year. The company sold a 2003-built Aframax (Gener8 Pericles), a 2000-built Suezmax (Gener8 Argus), a 2002-built VLCC (Gener8 Poseidon), and a 2010-built VLCC (Gener8 Zeus) for net cash proceeds of $33.2 million after debt repayment of $63.8 million and release of working capital from the Navig8 pools.

Monaco-based tanker owner Scorpio Tankers has reported a widened net loss for the fourth quarter of 2017, reaching USD 41.5 million, when compared to the same quarter from 2016 when its net loss was USD 29.7 million. The shipping company posted revenue of $148.4 million in the period. For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $158.2 million, or 73 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $512.7 million. Emanuele Lauro, chief executive officer and chairman of the board commented, “During the fourth quarter of 2017, we incurred some additional costs and reductions in revenue from the integration of the NPTI fleet. We believe that these steps were important in order to better capitalize on the improving product tanker market fundamentals.

Despite a shift in demand in the chemical shipping sector, Navig8 Chemical Tankers ended the fourth quarter ended 31st December, 2017 with a widened net loss of USD 3.7mln. Revenue for 4Q17 was $43.3 mill, compared to $33.9 mill for 4Q16. “The chemical tanker market began to show signs of improvement in the fourth quarter led by stronger demand in the chemical sector and tightening in the MR product tanker market,” said CEO Nicolas Busch. “With our fleet fully delivered, we are pleased to have generated sequential increases in revenues and operating income and believe we are well positioned as fleet growth for larger vessels begins to slow and chemical tanker demand continues to increase,” Nicolas added.

Tanker operator Euronav is to buy U.S. rival Gener8 Maritime to create one of the world's top oil shipping fleets, the companies said on Thursday, in an all-stock deal worth an estimated $490 million. Tanker companies have faced tough conditions in recent months, partly due to a glut of ships available for hire, and as a result have been looking for ways to build scale and cut costs. The Euronav deal is the first major M&A transaction since Oslo-listed tanker player Frontline said in June it had abandoned its pursuit of New York-listed rival DHT Holdings . Euronav, headquartered in Belgium, said the deal would create a tanker group with "tangible economies of scale" and an estimated market capitalisation of about $1.8 billion.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. announced that it has closed the previously announced merger with Navig8 Product Tankers Inc. (NPTI). As consideration, Scorpio has issued 55 million shares of its common stock to the holders of NPTI’s common shares or 19.7% of the current 279,663,300 Scorpio common shares issued and outstanding. Through the Merger and related transactions, Scorpio has acquired an operating fleet of 27 eco-design product tankers, comprised of 15 LR2s and 12 LR1s with a weighted average of 1.2 years and an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 2.6 million dwt. Scorpio’s operating fleet now consists of 105 owned or finance leased tankers (38 LR2 tankers…

Scorpio Tankers said shareholders of Navig8 Product Tankers Inc. (NPTI) approved the previously announced merger of Scorpio and NPTI at shareholders meeting held Tuesday. At the meeting, approximately 94.25 percent of the NPTI shares outstanding were voted, all of which were in favor of the merger. The merger remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on or about September 1, 2017. Three months ago, Scorpio Tankers announced that it had reached a deal to acquire 27 recently built LR tankers by merging with Navig8 Product Tankers. The deal makes Scorpio the largest product tanker firm on a U.S. securites exchange, and Scorpio said it expects the increased scale of its operations to reduce costs and increase vessel utilization.

Suspected pirates in a skiff attacked a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, MT NAVIG8 Providence, in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday and were driven off by the ship's security, the European Naval Force said. "There was an exchange of small arms fire between the suspected pirates and the maritime security team on board the tanker," the maritime force, known as EU NAVFOR, said in a statement. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri)

Vessel sales for May 2017 (as of June 1) as prepared by Shipping Intelligence, Inc., New York.

Large shipping losses have declined by 50 percent over the past decade, mostly driven by the development of a more robust safety environment by ship owners, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) fifth annual Safety & Shipping Review 2017. In 2016 there were 85 total shipping losses reported, down 16 percent from 101 a year earlier. The number of shipping incidents declined slightly year-on-year by 4 percent with 2,611 reported, according to the review, which analyzes reported shipping losses over 100 gross tons.

Rare cargoes booked out of Europe to Asia, Middle East; Indian demand, refinery maintenance boost Asian prices. Oil traders are shipping diesel out of Europe to Asia and the Middle East where strong demand and tighter supplies have boosted prices, in a rare arbitrage that reverses traditional routes. At least three 90,000 tonne diesel cargoes were booked in recent days out of northwest Europe options to go to Singapore and the Middle East, shipping data showed. BP chartered the long-range Nan Lin Wan and Front Antares tankers for loading out of the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp storage and refining hub in mid-July, the data showed. Vitol booked the 90…

Navig8 Chemical Tankers Inc,  international  shipping company focused on the transportation of chemicals, has  entered  into  contracts  to  acquire  32  modern,  fuel-efficient  newbuilding  chemical  tankers. As of today, 31 of these vessels have been delivered and are in operation, the company said in a press release. The remaining vessel is scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of 2017. Upon their respective deliveries, the Company’s vessels have and will be deployed in commercial pools managed by the Navig8  Group,  including  the  Chronos8,  Delta8  and  Stainless 8  pools. The Company’s newbuilding fleet is composed of eighteen IMO2 37…