Oil Transportation News

India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, will not buy Russian oil loaded on tankers operated by shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF) after recent U.S. sanctions, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The development adds to oil export problems for Russia as its oil firms may face difficulties finding ships to sell surplus oil after recent Ukrainian drone attacks on the state's refineries. Russian companies are already struggling to collect payments for oil exports due to banking restrictions.The U.S.

Exxon and Canada-based crude pipeline operator Enbridge were sued in Illinois federal court on Tuesday over claims they barred a competitor from building a terminal to ship oil by barge from the Chicago area to refineries in the Midwest and Gulf of Mexico.The antitrust lawsuit from energy infrastructure developer Ducere seeks more than $11 million in damages for work the Illinois company said it already paid for on the project and for lost future profits.Exxon, Enbridge and their…

ABS, Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) and DHT Holdings, Inc. signed a joint development project (JDP) to optimize a new, very large crude carrier (VLCC) with liquified natural gas (LNG) propulsion that meets Class and statutory requirements.The dual fuel vessel is intended to provide flexibility for operations and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The agreement—signed at the Gastech 2023 conference in Singapore—will see ABS, GTT and DHT focus on optimizing the VLCC design…

UAE-based AD Ports Group and KMTF (Kazmortransflot), an offshore logistics and services subsidiary of the Kazakh National Oil Company (KazMunayGas), have signed a deal to launch a joint venture that will provide offshore and shipping services for energy companies in the Caspian Sea.The joint venture will be 51 percent owned by AD Ports Group and 49 percent owned by KMTF. The two companies also signed a deal to pool tanker resources."The joint venture, which will look at investments opportunistically will offer a broad range of services…

Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT), an affiliate of NYK,  has taken delivery of a dual-fuel LNG shuttle tanker built at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering yard in South Korea.

A dual-fuel LNG (liquefied natural gas) shuttle tanker1 ordered by Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS,2 which is an affiliate of NYK, was delivered on August 2 at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. The vessel has been named Frida Knutsen.The shuttle tanker will be chartered to ENI Trade & Biofuels S.p.A, a subsidiary of Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi S.p.A (ENI), 3 and will be engaged in oil transportation in the North Sea and Barents Sea.The vessel will be KNOT's first dual-fuel shuttle tanker that can use not only heavy fuel oil but also LNG.

Smart network company Marlink has extended its service provision to France-based tanker company Socatra providing high-speed connectivity as well as secure IT management.Socatra provides solutions for deep-sea and inland oil transportation."[Socatra] recognized the need to improve the performance and quality of IT systems, which posed a risk to compliance and operational performance and required a comprehensive approach to upgrading hardware and software on board the vessel," Marlink said.According to Marlink…

Marine transportation services company Centerline Logistics said it has finalized its acquisition of Saltchuk Marine Services’ California ship refueling business, currently operated by Saltchuk subsidiary Foss Maritime.With the completion of this expansion, Centerline expands its existing California bunkering operations, adding Saltchuk’s six bunker barges as well as its established customer contracts in the California market. Centerline now operates bunker barges in the ports of Los Angeles and San Francisco, part of a national fleet of marine transportation vessels serving customers along the West Coast, Gulf Coast and East Coast.“The completion of this significant acquisition achieves Centerline’s goal of strengthening our industry leadership in safe petroleum transportation…

Centerline Logistics acquired Saltchuk Marine Services’ California ship refueling business, currently operated by subsidiary Foss Maritime Company. According to a press release from Centerline, this "major acquisition" brings together the combined capabilities of two of the nation’s leaders in petroleum transportation, strengthening Centerline’s position as a provider of around the clock bunkering (ship refueling) services.Through this expansion, Centerline will "substantially…

Overseas Shipholding Group, the tanker company providing energy transportation services for crude oil and petroleum products in the U.S. Flag markets, has entered into agreements with BP Oil Shipping Company USA and BP AMI Leasing to purchase the crude oil carrier vessels operated by Alaska Tanker Company (ATC).OSG currently owns a 37.5% interest in ATC. As part of the above transaction, OSG will acquire the remaining 62.5% interest of ATC that it does not own.According to the publicly traded tanker company, the agreements provide for deposits equal to 20% of the purchase price to be paid upon their execution, with the balance of the consideration to be paid at closing.Closing of the purchases is subject to various conditions…

Diamond S Shipping Inc, the owner and operator of crude oil and product tankers, has sold two 2008-built MR vessels, the Atlantic Aquarius and Atlantic Leo, generating approximately $11.3 million of liquidity before settlement of working capital.A non-cash write-off of $18.3 million was recognized in connection with the vessel sales, it said.Diamond S Shipping owns and operates 66 vessels on the water, including 15 Suezmax vessels, one Aframax and 50 medium-range (MR) product tankers.The company groups its business primarily by commodity transported and segments its fleet into a 16-vessel crude oil transportation fleet (the Crude Fleet) and a 50-vessel refined petroleum product transportation fleet (the Product Fleet).The Crude Fleet consists of 15 Suezmax vessels and one Aframax vessel.

Marcon International has announced to report the recent sales of the following two U.S. flag tugs as sellers continue to upgrade their fleets.The U.S. flag, 4,800 HP twin screw, flush-deck, articulated pusher tug “Java Sea” has been sold by Kirby Offshore Marine of Houston, Texas to private buyers. The tug was originally built by the well-respected Main Iron Works of Houma, Louisiana as the “Patriot” (Hull 360) - a 3,000 HP, EMD 12-645E6 powered, conventional twin screw tug with a raised 49.3’ height of eye pilothouse.

The very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) Tanzawa, the first new NYK-owned vessel to include an SOx scrubber, has been delivered into the NYK fleet. On October 3, a naming and delivery ceremony was held at the Kure shipyard of Japan Marine United Corporation, and attended by Akira Kono, NYK managing corporate officer, and other related parties.The new vessel is equipped with a scrubber that is compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) more stringent SOx emission regulation…

Enterprise Products Partners LP said on Wednesday it expects to take about two years to construct its oil export project called Sea Port Oil Terminal, or SPOT, in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Permitting for the terminal was expected to reach the final stages by the end of the first quarter of 2020 and final approval was expected during the second quarter, a company executive said on its second quarter earnings call.Enterprise Products signed long-term agreements with Chevron Corp to support the development of SPOT…

All 23 crew on a British oil tanker seized last week by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz are safe and well, the vessel's Swedish operator Stena Bulk said on Wednesday after speaking to them.The Stena Impero had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia when it suddenly changed course after passing through the strait at the mouth of the Gulf and headed towards Iran, captured by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.Iran said on Saturday it had seized the Stena Impero because it had collided with a fishing boat. Stena Bulk said it had received no evidence of such a collision."We had direct contact with the crew on board the vessel last night by telephone and they're all okay and in good health and they're getting good cooperation with the Iranians on board…

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has posted revenues‏ ‏of SAR‏3.14 billion ($840million) for the first half of 2019, despite regional difficulties.The Riyadh-based transportation and logistics company reported revenue growth of six percent for the first half and income growth of three percent, to SAR 581.47 million.Net income reached SAR 224.9 million ‎during the first six months of 2019 in comparison to SAR 308.54 million‎ of the same period last year. Earnings per share for the first half of 2019 reached SAR 0.57 compared to SAR 0.78 for the same ‎period last year.‎Abdullah Aldubaikhi, CEO, Bahri, said: “The financial results achieved for the first half of 2019 reflect the difficulties that the region is going through…

Japanese logistics major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced, the delivery of a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), "Phoenix Jamnagar" on April 24, which was built at Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) Ariake works and will be placed under control of Phoenix Tankers (Phoenix) based in Singapore, a 100% subsidiary of MOL.The vessel was designed and developed by JMU as a next-generation Malacca Max Type VLCC with utilizing its accumulated knowledge and technology as gained through numerous Malacca Max deliveries experiences.The vessel will primarily be employed for the crude oil transportation to India under a long-term contract between Phoenix and Reliance Industries Limited.MOL…

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has taken delivery of Khurais, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), from Korean Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI). Industry leader adds fourth VLCC this year, bringing its total number of vessels to 92,further enhancing its market-leading capabilities in crude oil transportation. The new addition is the fourth of five VLCCs to be received this year from South Korea-based Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI), the world’s largest shipbuilding company. ‘Khurais’ was delivered at a ceremony held at HSHI’s Mokpo shipyard in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, on 10 April 2018. Capable of transporting two million barrels of crude oil…

Tanker operators Euronav NV said that it remains confident of closing a takeover of the U.S.-based provider of international seaborne crude oil transportation services Gener8 Maritime in the next three months. On 21 December 2017 the boards of Euronav and Gener8 Maritime announced agreement on a stock-for-stock merger for the entire issued and outstanding share capital of Gener8 pursuant to which Gener8 would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Euronav (the Combined Entity). "Work on the transaction is proceeding as planned with an anticipated closing in the second quarter of 2018," said a statement from the company. The merger will create the leading independent large crude tanker operator with 75 crude tankers…

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.

In 1951, under the leadership of Capt. Fred’s son, Morton S. Bouchard Sr., (A.K.A. “Buster” Bouchard), the company builds three 20,000 barrel oil barges and three accompanying tugboats, which ran the New York State Barge Canal. The construction of these vessels would then, in the years that followed, lead to Buster’s position as a prominent figure within the oil transportation industry. The July 2018 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News will feature a special “Bouchard Transportation Co. Celebrates 100 Years” magazine.

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) received a very large crude carrier (VLCC) named “Lawhah” on Thursday, the company said. "Continuing its strong start to 2018, Bahri accepted the delivery of ‘Lawhah to further cement its market-dominant position in crude oil transportation," said a press release. The vessel, which lifts the total number of the company’s multipurpose fleet to 90, is the second of five VLCCs to be received this year from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI), the world’s largest shipbuilding company based in South Korea. Bahri took the delivery of Lawhah at a ceremony held at the HSHI’s Mokpo shipyard in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, on February 1, 2018.

Swedish tanker shipping company Concordia Maritime said it has signed a contract to charter in another IMO2/3 class MR tanker while also extending an expiring charter of another MR tanker. The new charter contract will run for two years from the time the newbuild is delivered in January 2018, with multiple options to extend. The other MR tanker charter contract, which expired in November, will be extended for a minimum of one year. Both are 50/50 joint charters with Stena Bulk to be operated by the MR pool within Stena Bulk Product & Chemicals.