Vlcc News

Increased sanctions (enforcement), resilient oil demand, partly due to stock building in China, and growing OPEC+ supply have all contributed to create a rate environment we have not seen since the freight rate boom in the early days of the pandemic, says Poten & Partners in an opinion this week.Very limited fleet supply growth in 2024 and 2025 has also contributed.“A tightening supply-demand balance has made the freight market more susceptible to small changes in ton-mile demand.

Tanker company DHT Holdings, Inc. has entered into a $308.4 million senior secured credit facility for the post-delivery financing of the company’s four newbuildings.The vessels are currently under construction at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, in South Korea and are scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2026.The facility is co-arranged by ING Bank and Nordea Bank Abp, with ING Bank as Coordinator, Facility Agent, Security Agent and ECA Agent. The facility bears interest at a rate equal to SOFR plus a weighted average margin of 1.32%.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has held a naming ceremony for the newbuilding very large crude carrier (VLCC) Energia Viking for Equinor, at the Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering shipyard in China.The Energia Viking is the first LNG dual-fuel VLCC delivered by the MOL Group and sailing under a charter contract with Equinor.The vessel is equipped with an LNG fuel tank with a capacity exceeding 10,000m3, enabling long-distance transportation and allowing for flexible transport plans.In addition…

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE: ECO / OSE: OET) has secured a new $65 million term loan facility to finance the repurchase of its VLCC Nissos Kea under a previously announced sale-and-leaseback option. The new financing, led by E.SUN Commercial Bank, extends OET’s strategy of strengthening its capital structure and diversifying its financing sources.The seven-year secured loan carries an interest rate of Term SOFR plus 135 basis points and will be repaid through quarterly installments of $0.9 million, with a $39.8 million balloon payment due at maturity.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has ordered a new LNG-fueled very large crude carrier (VLCC), which will sail under a long-term time charter contract with Idemitsu Tanker.The vessel will be the first dual-fuel VLCC to be chartered to a Japanese oil company.It will be built at Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering in China, which is jointly operated by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and China COSCO Shipping Corporation.The delivery of the vessel is scheduled for 2027.

On April 4, NYK concluded a contract for the construction and charter of a very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) equipped with a dual-fuel methanol main engine, a first for the NYK VLCC fleet.The vessel, which will feature a large shaft generator, will be constructed by Nippon Shipyard and engaged in a long-term charter for Idemitsu Tanker.The Malaccamax VLCC was designed in collaboration with Idemitsu Tanker, IINO Kaiun Kaisha and Nippon Shipyard.Principal Particulars:Length Overall: 339.5mBreadth: 60.0mScantling Draught: 21mDeadweight at Scantling Draught: Approx.

McQuilling Services announced the release of its 28th anniversary edition, 2025-2029 Tanker Market Outlook.This 183-page report provides a detailed analysis of oil fundamentals, global economic and geopolitical context in addition to tanker demand and supply projections across eight vessel classes. The interaction of tanker demand and vessel supply variables is processed using advanced quantitative modeling to produce a five-year spot and time charter equivalent (TCE) forecast for eight vessel classes across 27 benchmark tanker trades, plus five triangulated trades.

Prices of Canadian and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil to Asia jumped after shipping costs rallied on concerns that wider U.S. sanctions on the Russian fleet are tightening ship availability, trade sources said on Tuesday.Asian refiners face a margin squeeze as their costs of crude and shipping have spiked since Washington earlier this month imposed sweeping new sanctions targeting Russian insurers, tankers and oil producers.Discounts for Canadian crude exported via the Trans Mountain pipeline (TMX) and delivered to China in April have narrowed $1-$2 a barrel from the previous month…

Two of the world's top shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, said on Thursday they did not see an immediate return to Red Sea after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was announced.Both companies said they would be closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East and would return to the Red Sea once it was safe to do so."The agreement has only just been reached. We will closely analyze the latest developments and their impact on the security situation in the Red Sea…

Oil prices edged up to a 12-week high on Monday as a winter storm boosted demand for energy to heat U.S. homes and businesses, and on support from a weaker U.S. dollar and expectations of tighter sanctions on Iranian and Russian oil exports.Brent futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $76.78 a barrel by 11:33 a.m. EST (1633 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $74.23.Both crude benchmarks gained for a sixth-straight day with Brent on track for its highest close since Oct. 14 and WTI on track for its highest close since Oct.

The price of Iranian crude oil sold to China has risen to the highest in years as fresh U.S. sanctions have tightened shipping capacity and driven up logistics costs, trade sources and analysts said.Rising prices for Iranian oil as well as Russian crude are raising costs for independent Chinese refiners that account for about a fifth of demand at the world's top crude importer, underscoring challenges ahead as the Trump administration is expected to ramp up pressure on Iran.Some of the refiners are switching to supplies not under sanction restrictions, including from the Middle East and West Africa, to meet seasonal winter and pre-Lunar New Year demand…

U.S. net crude oil imports are forecast to fall by 20% next year to 1.9 million barrels per day, their lowest since 1971, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday, pointing to higher U.S. production and lower refinery demand.The EIA expects the United States to produce 13.52 million bpd in 2025, up from 13.24 million bpd in 2024, it said in its December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Meanwhile refiners are set to process 16 million bpd of crude oil in 2025, down by 200,000 bpd compared with 2024, the EIA said.Global oil demand is expected to average around 104.3 million bpd next year, the EIA said, down from its previous forecast of 104.4 million bpd.Global oil output is now expected to average 104.2 million bpd in 2025…

A tanker carrying Iranian oil to Syria turned round in the Red Sea to head away from its original destination after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to ship tracking data.The Suezmax tanker Lotus, carrying around 1 million barrels of Iranian oil, turned around just before the Suez Canal on Dec. 8 to start sailing southbound in the Red Sea, according to maritime data analytics firm Kpler.Tanker Trackers, another ship tracking source, also reported Lotus' turnaround in the Red Sea.The Iran-flagged tanker, laden with crude loaded on Iran’s Kharg Island, was sailing southbound in the Red Sea off Egypt, and was not signalling a new destination…

Belgian oil tanker company CMB Tech says it will focus on the fast growing market in India as it reported third quarter results above market expectations on Thursday, boosted by vessel disposals as it diversifies its fleet.After last year's Euronav-Compagnie Maritime Belge takeover, the group shifted strategy by selling 24 tankers to Frontline and acquiring CMB.Tech's fleet. It now operates a diversified fleet of around 160 vessels, including dry bulk, container, and chemical tankers, rather than focusing solely on oil transport with Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) and Suezmax tankers.CMB Tech shares fell 1.3% at 0817 GMT, extending a 7.1% decline over the past year.

Idemitsu Tanker Co., Ltd., IINO Kaiun Kaisha, Ltd. (IINO Lines), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd. announced that the consortium established in early 2024 for the joint research and development of an eco-friendly very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) has produced a design concept for Japan’s first Malacca Max type VLCC to use methanol as alternative fuel.To provide power while sailing, the vessel will be equipped with a shaft generator and the latest dual-fuel main engine that can use methanol and heavy oil as fuel.

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri)  signed a purchase agreement to acquire nine Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) from Capital Maritime and Trading Corporation for approximately $1B, the company said.The purchase is part of a modernization drive and will enable the company to start phasing out older vessels, Bahri said in a statement issued via Saudi Arabia's stock exchange.The ships will be delivered before the end of the first quarter of 2025, with Bahri paying for 10% of the purchase upon signing and the remainder upon delivery.Bahri operates 40 VLCCs, each with a capacit

The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping has published a technical, environmental, and techno-economic analysis of the impacts of preparation and conversion of tankers for green fuels.Using insights from project partners, the project aimed to understand the technical requirements and cost of converting from fuel oil to methanol or ammonia and from NG to ammonia.The report considered reference designs for two types of tanker vessels: LR2 and VLCC. These vessel types are two of the largest in the tanker segment…

South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean has received an order to construct two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for a shipping company in Oceania.The order for VLCCs, worth $257.8 million (342 billion won), is the first such order for Hanwha Ocean in the last three years. This is also the highest price for the vessels in 16 years, since the 2008 global financial crisis, the company said.The ships will be built at the Geoje plant and delivered to the shipowner in the first and second half of 2026…

Idemitsu Tanker, IINO Kaiun Kaisha (IINO Lines), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and Nihon Shipyard have established a consortium to conduct joint research and development of design concepts for Malacca Max-type very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs).The design concepts, including machinery and environment equipment, will be developed with a view of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the consortium that was initiated by Idemitsu Tanker said.Aiming to reduce emissions by 40% or more compared to previous levels…

Norwegian shipowner Hunter Group has entered into a three-year back-to-back charterparty for an eco-design and scrubber fitted Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) with an internationally renowned counterparty.Delivery of the 2016-built vessel is expected to take place during March/April 2024.The company will charter the vessel in at a fixed rate of $51,000 per day, before subsequently chartering the vessel out on a floating index-linked spot rate contract."This agreement is yet another…

The economic incentive to import oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia has closed as the cost of booking supertankers on the route has surged amid a jump in bookings for the vessels, traders said this week.With the arbitrage for U.S. shipments closed, Asian refiners may make up some of the difference with similar Middle Eastern crude oil after top regional producer Saudi Arabia cut their sales prices for February, which is expected to carry over to other regional crudes. The spur…

The cost of chartering a supertanker to load Middle Eastern crude oil for Asia has rebounded from a 19-month low in September, but industry sources expect output supply cuts, led by Saudi Arabia, to cap freight rates for the rest of the year.The world's benchmark very large crude carrier (VLCC) export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan, known as TD3, rose to W50.46 on Monday in the Worldscale measure of freight rates, LSEG data showed. It fell to W35.60 in September…

During the first eight months of 2023, US dirty tanker export demand increased 33% year-on-year while the global dirty tanker exports increased only 5%. Measured in deadweight tonne miles, US exports now account for 14% of global dirty tanker demand, says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.US oil production has increased since 2013 while US refinery runs peaked before the COVID pandemic. This has allowed dirty tanker exports to increase from 0.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2016 to 3.5 mbpd during the first eight months of 2023.