Oil Products Tankers News

Shipping group NORDEN has acquired larger capesize dry bulk ships, aiming to benefit from China's economy reopening and expectations of a pick up in commodities trade, the Danish company's CEO said. Three years of rigid border controls and sweeping lockdowns during the pandemic have sapped business confidence in China, especially among foreign firms, according to sentiment surveys. China has set itself a target for gross domestic product growth of around 5% this year, after significantly missing its target for 2022.

Tough new sanctions on Russian oil shipments taking effect from December are likely to boost already high tanker rates as buyers race to replace cargoes and are forced to use longer routes, a leading ship manager said.In the latest action against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine that began in February, the European Union will ban Russian crude imports from Dec 5, and Russian oil products from Feb 5.Designed to deprive Moscow of revenues that could finance its action in Ukraine…

A subsidiary of global private business group Libra has acquired German tanker company Carl Büttner Holding (CB) for close to $160 million, the unit said on Monday in its latest expansion into shipping.Lomar - Libra's global ship owning and management unit, which has around 50 ships in its fleet including container ships and dry bulk vessels - has completed the acquisition of CB, which has a fleet of chemical and oil products tankers.CB would "benefit from the strength of Libra Group’s network around the world", Libra's executive chairman George Logothetis said."This is an exciting time for Lomar, and we look forward to many innovative and future-thinking announcements to come."Lomar was part of one of the consortiums that bid for the Israeli port of Haifa…

A coalition of 19 countries including Britain and the United States on Wednesday agreed to create zero emissions shipping trade routes between ports to speed up the decarbonization of the global maritime industry, officials involved said.Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions.U.N. shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has said it aims to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.

U.S. refiners are scaling back on hiring ships for longer periods to save on costs in another sign of uncertainty over when global oil demand will return to pre-COVID levels, shipping and trade sources say.The global rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the expectation that government-offered stimulus packages will boost the world economy has raised expectations of a recovery in oil consumption. But fuel demand remains sluggish, keeping oil refiners under pressure and looking for ways to limit further losses.The International Energy Agency…

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) said that it received the giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, Umm Ruwaisat, as part of a major fleet overhaul.Accoding to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), KOTC has entered the fourth phase of its fleet overhaul, which entails the delivery of eight carriers, three of which are gas tankers built by South Korean ship building firm Hyundai MIPO.The fourth phase of the fleet development includes the delivery of eight tankers of which three are giant LNG tankers built by Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, in addition to four medium-term oil products tankers and a huge crude oil tanker currently being built in a Chinese firm.

Nearly 300 oil tankers globally have been placed off limits as companies fear violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, driving freight rates to new highs, industry sources said.The move has taken roughly 3% of the global oil tanker fleet out of the market, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon, sending rates soaring to secure tankers to ship oil, particularly to Asia."Freight rates are going through the roof and people are getting very nervous with the cost of shipping…

RMK Marine Shipyard is located in the Tuzla/Istanbul, Turkey, since 1997 as part of the Koc Group of Companies (https://www.koc.com.tr/en-us) which is Turkey’s biggest conglomerate. It specializes in shipbuilding as well as super/mega yacht refit, conversion and new building projects. On the shipbuilding side, specialty, high-temperature product tankers, such as asphalt and bitumen, as well as chemical and oil products tankers have been a staple of RMK Marine. Since 1997, RMK…

Shell Tankers (Singapore) Private Ltd has agreed a long-term deal to charter a fleet of 10 LNG dual-fuel Aframax crude oil tankers from Sinokor Petrochemical Co Ltd, which expects to take delivery of them from Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea in 2021."Shell has agreed to charter a fleet of new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled crude oil and products tankers, as part of its drive to decarbonise shipping," said a press note.Separately, Shell has agreed long-term charters for four new LNG dual-fuel oil products tankers, from institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with delivery of the vessels expected from 2021.“LNG is already a commercially competitive way to reduce emissions from ships…

Two oil products tankers had collided off Singapore coast but the impact of the accident was not immediately clear, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The tankers were identified as Crystal Sunrise, chartered by Japanese liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) firm Gyxis, and Astro Saturn chartered by European trading house Trafigura. "We can confirm that the Astro Saturn is on TC (time charter) to Trafigura and is carrying fuel oil," said it's spokeswoman without elaborating further. According to data from Thomson Reuters Eikon, Crystal Sunrise is a Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) with a deadweight tonne (DWT) of 54,070 tonnes carrying Middle Eastern origin LPG.

A merger of Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has hit a snag, with the German shipping line and some banks seeking assurances that UASC's top shareholder Qatar remain committed to the deal for the long term, sources say. Hapag Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen told a news conference this week he had underestimated the complexity of the 7 billion to 8 billion euro ($7.6-$8.7 bln) deal, which will create one of the world's largest shipping lines. Two finance sources…

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is calling for vigilance in the maritime sector as it emerges that shipping and the supply chain is the ‘next playground for hackers’. IMB said, “Recent events have shown that systems managing the movement of goods need to be strengthened against the threat of cyber-attacks. The threat of cyber-attacks on the sector have intensified in the past few months, with cyber security experts and the media alike warning of the dangers posed by criminals targeting carriers, ports, terminals and other transport operators. They argue that while IT systems have become more sophisticated and thus enabling companies to better protect themselves against fraud and theft, it has also left them more vulnerable to ‘cyber criminals’.

Deliveries of new gas tankers have created a glut that is threatening to tip some operators into losses, just as other shipping markets emerge from their worst downturn in decades. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker market was until recently the only bright spot in an otherwise depressed freight industry. A global surge in the demand for gas, led by Japan in 2011, boosted trade, tied vessels to longer routes and drove rental rates to record highs. But the 119 new carriers ordered from 2011 will have expanded the fleet by over 30 percent by end-2017.

Oil products tankers have reportedly been getting business in recent days transporting oil products from Europe to America and the reverse direction. Usually the arbitrage works only one way, not both. Shippers say the UK/continent market has been busy with charterers moving oil products across the North Sea and also across the Atlantic. The Mediterranean has also experienced an upswing in chartering, although rates have responded more sluggishly than in the North Sea. The Caribbean up U.S. coast market has been slower of late, although interest to ship products from the U.S. to Europe has kept rates steady against a week ago.