Clean

For the Middle East clean market it has been muted compared to last week. TC1 saw marginal gains over the week to WS280 (a TCE of $63676 per day). A similar run on the LR2 going west, TC20, rose by just over $140k per day ending at $543,333 per day.

TC15 Skikda-Japan on the LR2s has seen a little improvement again, rising week on week to $4,366,667 by the end of the week. There was little gain in overall TCE but a marked improvement from last week. The TC5 55kt Middle East Gulf to Japan saw a jump of WS25.71 points, settling on a firm footing and ending at WS330.71 at weeks end. The MRs saw the worst of it, losing a marginal WS7.5 points, but still sitting high at WS520 with a TCE per day of $58,468.

Handymax routes in both the Mediterranean and the Baltic did opposite shifts with the Mediterranean gaining WS17.82 points to finish just at Ws180.63. This was a relatively healthy gain on the week off the back of decent activity. The Baltic route, meanwhile, saw a drop of WS18.57 finishing at WS347.14.

The MRs on the Continent had another good week with both the Transatlantic and West African routes seeing gains of around WS30 points. The TC19 closed at WS240.71 and TC2 at WS231.94

The US market has been active, despite labour day on the Monday. TC14 and TC18 US export runs rose by WS20 points for Transatlantic to WS183.33 with TCE of $11,602 per day. The run to Brazil finished at WS274.17, a gain of nearly WS35 points.

VLCC

VLCC rates eased this week with the market coming off the recent high. For the 270,000mt Middle East Gulf/China route, the rate fell 4.5 points to the WS70.5 level (a round-trip TCE of $31,700 per day). The rate for 280,000mt Middle East Gulf/USG (via Cape of Good Hope) slipped two points to between WS40-41. In the Atlantic, rates for 260,000mt West Africa/China were three points lower than a week ago at a touch above WS71 ($34,800 per day round-trip TCE). For the 270,000mt US Gulf/China market, rates dipped midweek, then started an upward trajectory on Thursday and were last assessed $37,500 higher week-on-week at $8.5875m (showing a round-trip TCE of $30,700 per day).

Suezmax

Rates for 135,000mt Black Sea/Augusta stumbled this week with tonnage building up in the Mediterranean, which translates into a drop of 10 points since last week at WS181.5 (a round-trip TCE of $73,500 per day). For the 130,000mt Nigeria/UKC trip, rates dipped a meagre 2.5-3 points to WS125 (a round-trip TCE of $33,100 per day). In the Middle East, the rate for 140,000mt Basrah/West Mediterranean continued to hover around the WS65 mark.

Aframax

The Mediterranean market rates took a tumble. The rate for 80,000mt Ceyhan/West Mediterranean fell 32.5 points to WS157 (a round-trip TCE of $30,600 per day). In Northern Europe, similarly the market fell with the rate for 80,000mt Hound Point/UK Continent dropping 25 points to WS152.5 (a daily round-trip TCE of $30,100). The rate for 100,000mt Primorsk/UK Cont route was reduced by 21.5 points to WS181.5 (a round trip TCE of $48,200 per day).

Across the Atlantic, the market has steadied for now with small improvements made. The rate for 70,000mt EC Mexico/US Gulf rose two points to between WS252.5-255 (a round-trip TCE of $53,700 per day) while for the 70,000mt Caribbean/US Gulf trip the rate remained flat at between WS237.5-240 (a round-trip TCE of $45,100). For the Transatlantic route of 70,000mt US Gulf/UK Continent, the rate climbed four points to WS210 ($36,400 per day round-tip TCE).
Source: Baltic Exchange

Formerly known as the Trinity Erk, the Monjasa Shaker strengthens Monjasa’s marine fuel operations across the Middle East, which currently consist of four tankers ranging between 4,000 and 10,000-dwt.

Equipped with deep-well pumps and five tank segregations allowing multiple fuel grades onboard, the tanker increases operational flexibility. Capacity-wise she matches demand for transporting oil cargoes from the Fujairah bunkering hub to Monjasa’s main markets across Dubai, Abu-Dhabi and Sharjah ports, as well as performing ship-to-ship refuelling operations.

Monjasa Shaker also allows on board product blending and is thus capable of supporting Monjasa’s biodiesel supplies across the UAE, which were commenced earlier this year.

In 2021, Monjasa supplied 850,000 tonnes of marine fuels across the Middle East – equivalent to 15% of Monjasa’s 5.7m tonnes global volume.

“The Monjasa Shaker fits well into our existing fleet of tankers and matches market demand in terms of cargo capacity and high technical specifications. In fact, two years ago we acquired the sister vessel, Monjasa Server, which has been an excellent contribution to our Middle East fleet operations. Moreover, operating two sister vessels allows us to better apply learnings across performance and energy efficiency on board, which is becoming increasingly important for all shipowners,” said Group Shipping Director, Torben Maigaard Nielsen.

Balancing a fleet of owned and chartered tankers Overall, Monjasa controls 25 tankers and barges globally of which 11 are owned and supplied a total of 5.7m tonnes of fuel products across 700+ ports during 2021.

Source: https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/bunkering/monjasa-boosts-middle-east-operations-new-bunker-tanker

Norwegian tanker operator Stolt Tankers and compatriot technology company Yara Marine Technologies have signed an agreement to equip a further seven tankers with Yara Marine’s FuelOpt propulsion optimisation technology.

The agreement was signed at SMM in Hamburg, Germany on 7 September 2022.

This new order follows the installation and evaluation of FuelOpt on board the Stolt Breland in early 2022.

Operating the largest fleet of chemical tankers in the world, Stolt Tankers is looking to prioritize voyage efficiency solutions that support emissions reductions. Having successfully trialed Yara Marine’s FuelOpt system and recorded distinct fuel savings and emissions reductions, the company intends to implement the system across a larger percentage of its fleet.

“This collaboration represents a new step towards our carbon reduction goals. We want to be ahead of the timeline and reach our ambition, and the best way to do so with an extensive fleet like ours is to maximize fuel savings and minimize emissions,” Jose Gonzalez Celis, Energy and Conservation Manager at Stolt Tankers, said.

“Shipping needs practical and cost-effective solutions that demonstrate tangible results, and I am pleased to say that our agreement with Yara Marine Technologies has ensured that we are making real progress towards greater fuel efficiency without compromising operational efficacy. We look forward to working together and collaborating on further solutions for our fleet.”

As explained, FuelOpt maximizes fuel savings through energy efficiency and is compatible with any marine fuel, which supports Stolt Tankers’ goal of having a fuel-flexible fleet. The system allows customers to use all existing fuels while future-proofing for possible new fuels. FuelOpt is also compatible with any propeller or engine, and can be installed on older vessels or newbuilds.

“We are proud to support Stolt Tankers with technology solutions that meet their immediate needs, while also allowing for additional enhancements further down the road to Net Zero. Increased fuel efficiency already plays a key role in cost-effective operations, and will no doubt continue to be a vital part of dealing with the expense of future fuels and upcoming regulations,” Aleksander Askeland, Chief Sales Officer at Yara Marine Technologies, commented.

Stolt Tankers Stolt Tankers operates a fleet of 160 chemical tankers, providing global transportation services for bulk liquid chemicals, edible oils, acids, and clean petroleum products.

Source: https://www.offshore-energy.biz/stolt-tankers-chooses-yaras-propulsion-optimisation-tech-for-7-more-ships/

Activists from Greenpeace Nordic stopped the LNG gas carrier Coral Energy from unloading its cargo of Russian gas at an LNG terminal in Nynäshamn, south of Stockholm, Sweden today. It was the latest in a series of protests the environmentalist organization has staged against tankers over the past few months highlighting imports from Russia and their broader calls to end the use of fossil fuels.

“The fact that Russian fossil gas is still allowed to flow into Sweden, more than six months after Putin began his invasion of Ukraine, is unacceptable,” said Karolina Carlsson, campaign leader at Greenpeace Nordic. “The Parliament has given the Swedish government a clear mandate to stop all imports of Russian energy to Sweden and it is Prime minister Magdalena Andersson’s obligation to act on this.”

Climbers from Greenpeace occupied the cranes that unload the gas from the ship while Greenpeace’s sailing vessel SY Witness and activists in kayaks are in the water to prevent the ship from docking.

The 12,268 dwt gas carrier was arriving from Finland. It has the capacity to carry up to 15,600 cm of LNG. The vessel, which is registered in the Netherlands, continues to hold offshore near Sweden. Its AIS is reflecting “for orders,” at this time.

Greenpeace Nordic is demanding that the Swedish government declare an immediate stop to the import of Russian fossil gas. According to the protestors, the ship’s load of Russian gas from Vysotsk is estimated to be worth over a quarter of a billion Swedish krona (approximately $250 million) when it left Russia. They contend that the money is “equivalent to almost four advanced Kalibr missiles or about 80 of the older Tochka-U missiles, weapons systems used by Russia in Ukraine.”

They chose to target the Coral Energy because the Finnish state-owned Gasum they said has regularly imported gas from Russia’s Gazprom. Since the invasion of Ukraine in February, Greenpeace says Sweden has received around 100,000 cubic meters of LNG from Vysotsk in Russia. Despite the fact that the government is fully aware of this, and has a clear mandate from the Swedish people and an announcement from the Parliament to stop importing Russian energy, Sweden continues its imports, and by this to finance the Russian military.

AFP cites reports from Sweden’s government that says only two percent of the country’s total energy supply is made up of natural gas and Russian energy accounts for less than half of that. They also noted that neither the EU or Sweden currently has sanctions on Russian gas.

The local police were at the gas terminal but at last report had not taken any actions. It was expected that the protest would end at nightfall.

Greenpeace protestors earlier this year blocked a tanker that was also scheduled to dock in the UK. They also went into North Sea anchorages protesting the oil and gas imports and painting messages on the hulls of tankers. They also used their boats to block the ship-to-ship transfer of oil arriving from Russia.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/greenpeace-activists-block-lng-tanker-from-docking-in-sweden

Astronger tanker market over the course of the past few weeks, has helped increase prices for tankers as well. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “amidst widespread price increases, it is not surprising that tanker asset values have also been rising. Our data shows a strong appreciation in VLCC and Suezmax values, with a significant divergence between newbuild and second hand price increases. Even more interesting is the difference in growth rates between newbuilds and 5 year old vessels and older 10 and 15 year old tonnage. Gibson asset value data shows newbuild VLCC and Suezmax values both increased by 5% respectively YTD, whilst over the last 12 months they increased by 17% and 13%. This has been driven by rising raw material costs, shrinking yard availability and relative pricing of other vessel types such as container carriers. Although, these increases have likely been capped by a lack of actual ordering given the difficulty in securing both yard slots and design hesitation. With overall producer price inflation averaging approximately 8-10% across most advanced economies, newbuild prices have also felt the pressure but the rate of increases this year may be slowing compared to gains we saw in the second half of 2021”.

“However, it is a very different story in terms of second hand tankers, prices have increased much faster, with 5 year old VLCCs and Suezmaxes jumping by 17% and 23% respectably YTD, reflecting relative value compared to newbuild vessels. For example, the order price of a VLCC is estimated to be $120 million versus $85 million for a 5 year old unit, which offers a comparatively good ratio of youth and prompter availability; with more favourable retrofitting economics compared to a newbuild vessel at a much higher price and with a longer lead time”, Gibson said.

According to the shipbroker, “perhaps the most interesting asset price developments have been in the 10 year old and older age bracket, where gains have far exceeded broader measures of inflation. The biggest gains have been in 15 year old Suezmaxes which have jumped an impressive 58.5% this year, whilst 10 year old VLCCs have increased 20.5%. This has been driven by increased enquiry from mostly Middle Eastern, Russian, and Asian buyers, looking to build a fleet of older tankers to carry Russian crude. Such price rises also offer an attractive asset play opportunity for owners looking to dispose of older units ahead of a potentially tougher sales environment once EU sanctions on Russian oil fully take hold. It is also an opportunity to pursue more favourable fleet renewal by disposing of older vessels during a spike in values and reinvesting the proceeds into younger tonnage”.

Gibson added that “within this development there also has been an increase in sales and enquiry for Ice class Suezmaxes and Aframaxes, capable of trading during the Russian ice season. Also propping up older tanker values is the persistence of the illicit fleet, which continues to absorb older scrapping candidates to engage in sanctioned trade. Although, should sanctions relief come to Iran, then this would increase scrapping pressure on older vessels operating in the shadow fleet and reduce their market value as the commercial opportunity to engage in this trade recedes. Instead, legitimate trading opportunities would re-emerge for younger, more efficient vessels to take on the trade of these cargoes”.

“Fundamentally, this all feeds into the growing positive outlook for crude tankers. Stronger earnings should theoretically support these higher asset values as the cashflow generating capacity of larger crude tankers improves, although growing economic uncertainty and the risk of a global downturn indicate the need for caution in terms of investment timing. Overall, the investment prospects for the tanker market have improved relative to the protracted market slump of the last 20 months and this is catching the eye of potential investors, whilst tanker owners are likely to be considering their next moves”, Gibson concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide