The tanker market could be headed for additional support down the line. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal said that “while the energy markets are historically stretched, Russian flows of crude oil are closely monitored as the oil trade is ultimately realigned. More specifically, Russian oil exports fell by 115k bpd in July to 7.4m bpd, from about 8m bpd at the start of the year, according to IEA’s August report. However, for the period Jan-Jul22 oil exports averaged 7.75m bpd, edging upwards compared to 7.5m bpd achieved in 2021 as a whole”.

According to Ms. Chara Georgousi, Researcn Analyst with Intermodal, “crude and product flows to the US, UK, EU, Japan and Korea have slumped by 2.2 m bpd since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, two-thirds of them have been redirected mainly to China and India at discounted rates. Export revenues fell to $19 bn in July, -9.5% m-o-m, mainly on the back of reduced volumes and lower oil prices. Total flows of Russia’s crude to Asia fell by 500,000 bpd during the past three months, with flows slumping at the lowest since March. During the last week of August, according to Bloomberg, total flows slumped at 3.04m bpd, -16% w-o-w. Crude shipments to China are now about 50% of the total flows, -10% since April. Key driving factor is mainly China’s constrained oil demand due to consecutive lockdowns which prompted refineries to minimize their crude input, as well as simultaneous maintenance of multiple refineries. Another factor could be the narrowing of the price differential between Urals crude and Brent crude, which from about $30/bbl in April-May narrowed to approx. $19/bbl in July-August, according to Russia’s Ministry of Finance”.

Ms. Georgousi added that “European imports of Russian crude surged during August’s last week to the highest level since April, mainly driven by the upcoming full effect of sanctions in December. According to Bloomberg, total flows of Urals crude rose to 3.41m bpd from a previous 3.24m bpd, mainly on the back of EU imports (Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and Black Sea region). Imports of Mediterranean countries soared to the highest level to reach 140k bpd, imports of Northern countries accounted for 398k bpd, while import volumes from the Black Sea region (Romania and Bulgaria) marked a 7-week high”.

Intermodal’s analyst added that “ESPO, on the other hand, has marked a 4-month high during August. ESPO shipments from the country’s Pacific Coast terminals rose to the highest level since April. More specifically, according to Bloomberg, 37 tankers departed from Kozmino in August carrying 875k bpd of ESPO. Meanwhile, combined exports from Kozmino, De Kastri, and Prigorodnoye surged to 942k bpd, +6.5% m-o-m. India edged as a key ESPO importer, displacing barrels from Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi and thus, realigning global crude flows. During August standalone, 6 vessels carrying ESPO headed to the country’s refineries, carrying a total volume of 142k bpd, +20.3% m-o-m”.

Source: Intermodal

Ms. Georgousi concluded that “with shifting trading patterns in the crude oil market, Russia must primarily rely on China and India to source its crude. China’s demand for Russian barrels, albeit lower in July according to GAC data, could recover as we head towards the winter season which will increase demand for oil amid elevated gas prices. Oil demand could be supported in September ahead of the peak of fishing and harvest activities, as well as the Autumn festival, all of which combined add tailwinds to gasoil consumption. In addition, some demand growth is expected during October, ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist party which will be held in Beijing. The recent outbreak of Covid cases in many provinces, though, has forced cities to adopt virus containment measures and added headwinds to the winter demand growth forecast. Nevertheless, market sentiment remains bullish, overall, regarding the 2H2022 Chinese oil demand. Conclusively, some smaller players have emerged which could potentially absorb more Russian crude in the mid-term, such as Sri Lanka and Egypt which snapped some Russian barrels during July and August, according to Bloomberg. Given that the trade between Russia and alternative importing countries is further developed after the sanctions’ full effect, it could add some support to the tonne miles”, Intermodal’s analyst concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

 

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Iran has agreed to release the crews of two Greek tankers it seized in May in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker in Greece, a Greek seafarers union said.

The months-long diplomatic impasse has strained relations between Athens and Tehran as tensions grow between Iran and the United States.

The crews will be replaced, allowing their return to their countries of origin soon, the PENEN union for seafarers on commercial ships said on its website on Sunday. It was not clear whether the two Greek tankers, the MT Prudent Warrior and Delta Poseidon, would be released, it said.

On Monday, the Greek shipping minister confirmed that one Delta Poseidon crew member was returning to Greece.

“A Greek sailor from the vessel Delta Poseidon, which, as is known, is illegally detained in Iran, has already left for Greece. Good return,” Minister Yannis Plakiotakis tweeted.

Earlier, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser KanaanI could not confirm the information about the release of crew members but said he hoped “there would be positive developments in the future”.

Α Greek official said the effort to free the crews was in progress but the release of the tankers would take longer than the replacement of the crews.

Delta Tankers was not available for comment.

The Iranian-flagged tanker Lana, formerly Pegas, was seized by Greece in April and was held for months. The United States had confiscated part of its oil cargo because of sanctions on Iran.

The removal of oil from the Lana prompted Iranian forces in May to seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf and sail them back to Iran. Tehran had warned of “punitive action” against Greece.

Lana, which had engine problems, was officially released in July. Anchored off the Greek port of Piraeus since then, it has retrieved the oil cargo that the United States had confiscated and is expected to sail back to Iran.

Polembros shipping, manager of the MT Prudent Warrior, said in a statement on Monday that the crew communicates with their families almost on a daily basis and “they are in good health and are treated well”.

It added that the company is making every effort for their release.

“We have been innocent victims caught in the midst of political confrontations,” it said in the statement. “We hope that the recent developments are the pathway to the release of our vessel and her crew.”

Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/iran-release-crew-two-seized-greek-499386

 

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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

 

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Tanker HA AN 01 with some 1,000 tons of fuel on board sank at anchorage off Diem Dien port channel, Thai Binh province, at night Sep 8, being caught in adverse weather. 7 crew rescued, no reports on oil leak yet, but authorities already deployed Oil Response Agency to deal with possible leak and oil on board. Understood tanker is resting on bottom, with superstructure remaining partially above waterline.
Tanker HA AN 01, Reg. Number HP 5767, GT 1232, flag Vietnam.

Source: https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2022/39473/tanker-1000-tons-oil-sank-gulf-tonkin-vietnam/

 

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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

 

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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.

Stolt Tankers
Jose Gonzalez Celis and Aleksander Askeland sign the new agreement at SMM in Hamburg. Courtesy of Yara

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/

 

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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

 

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Officials on both the islands of Mauritius and Reunion are breathing a sigh of relief today after a nearly week-long vigil over a broken-down product tanker in their region. While the vessel never came in close range with either island, both nations had been put on alert, offering assistance to the tanker while also reporting that it should not be entering their economic zones.

The 105,715 dwt Ocean Pride 1 is reported loaded with a cargo of 100,000 tons of oil traveling from Curacao and due to arrive in Port Louis, Mauritius. Last Friday, September 2, officials on Reunion that monitor all ocean traffic identified a potential issue with the vessel. They report that their system tracks the more than 12,000 ships each year that enter the zone around Reunion. They suspected that the tanker was experiencing a problem and contacted the vessel.

The captain reported that one of the vessel’s engines was experiencing a problem that they were attempting to correct. News reports said the engineer identified a loss of air pressure without providing more specific details on the problems aboard the 23-year-old tanker. The vessel is registered in Sierra Leone and reported to be owned by Indian interests.

The maritime authority on Mauritius also became concerned and declared a maximum maritime alert as the tanker was drifting at a slow speed west in the Indian Ocean. Its position was reported to be 70 nautical miles north of Reunion and 90 nautical miles west of Mauritius. The vessel, however, was not requesting assistance from the local authorities.

Yesterday evening, September 7, five days after the vessel began drifting a tug was dispatched from Port Louis carrying required spare parts for the tanker’s engine. The captain of the vessel reported that it would take between 12 to 18 hours to affect repairs to the vessel at which time they would be able to restart the engine.

The maritime authorities on both islands are reporting that the vessel was able to restart its engine. The AIS signal, however, shows that it remains mostly in position making only slow headway. Mauritian officials have reportedly told the vessel that it should depart and not enter their zone or come to Port Louis based most people believe of fears of a repeat of the 2020 disaster when the Wakashio ran aground causing the worst oil spill in the island’s history.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/mauritius-and-reunion-report-drifting-oil-tanker-is-repaired

 

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Bergen, Norway, 06 September 2022 – The Norwegian pool operator Hansa Tankers announced its partnership with StormGeo, a leading provider of weather intelligence and decision-support solutions for the shipping industry and part of Alfa Laval, to roll out the fleet performance management software s-Insight to all vessels in its pool.

Hansa Tankers is a leading pool operator of stainless-steel tonnage. Founded in 2010, the company’s pool has grown from an initial three vessels to more than 50 chemical tanker vessels ranging in size from 19,000 to 33,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT).

Having a high focus on sustainability, Hansa Tankers now rolls out StormGeo’s s-Insight to establish a unified data collection system that enables the pool and its partners to document and assess the environmental performance of their vessels.

Partnering with StormGeo will help Hansa Tankers seamlessly transfer voyage data in real-time to improve ship-to-shore communication, adding insight into their bunker management, reducing CO2 emissions of their fleet, and further strengthening their focus on increasing the pool’s fleet-wide sustainability.

“StormGeo’s s-Insight provides tools that assist us in managing the environmental and commercial performance of our entire fleet in one dashboard. By also adding weather and routing data to the operator decision-making toolbox, we gain new and actionable insights that enable immediate, measurable CO2 impact on our trade, which in turn will positively enhance the pool’s financial performance and environmental footprint in the coming years,” says Torfin Eide, COO at Hansa Tankers.

s-Insight is a customizable fleet management system that integrates and organizes weather, voyage reporting, sensor data, performance levers, and expert assistance in one powerful analytics tool. The solution gives vessel owners, operators, and managers timely and actionable information to maximize voyage and vessel performance. In addition, its reliable data reporting system ensures the fleet is always compliant.

For Hansa Tankers, s-Insight provides opportunities to monitor the environmental impact on emissions, improve environmental performance, and keep the fleet compliant with EU MRV, IMO DCS, the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), and Sea Cargo Charter regulations. Particularly useful is the new CII Simulator, a key module in s-Insight and a tool that monitors CII compliance status and reveals the impact of commercial parameters on CII ratings.

“StormGeo’s powerful and actionable CII Simulator gives us a tool enabling a better understanding of the commercial impact of the CII in our trades,” Eide says. “We acknowledge that the earlier we integrate CII simulation into our daily operations and decision making, the better we can manage the impact on CII performance and thereby enhance our competitive advantage in the market.”

Partnering with StormGeo will help Hansa Tankers showcase the effect of vessel and cargo consolidation to its charterers and other stakeholders by:

·Simulating the CO2 impact on the estimate and voyage levels to provide an overview of pre-fixture and post-fixture emissions results.
·Calculating the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) based on validated data per voyage and year, including projections for future compliance.
·Simplifying and streamlining the Sea Cargo Charter reporting process for both the pool and its counterparties.
“s-Insight also presents an opportunity for our pool participants to assess their performance and environmental footprint through diverse, investigative, and out-of-the-box system features. Participants can thereby also use s-Insight to validate any measures taken towards improving operational energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint with KPIs for continuous monitoring of their own vessel performance,” Eide concludes.s-Insight is part of StormGeo’s innovative software and services s-Suite for shipping customers, a complete one-stop solution to optimize time, fuel, and vessel performance while ensuring navigational and environmental performance.

Learn more about StormGeo’s product portfolio and partnerships at SMM Hamburg 2022

StormGeo helps shipping companies prepare for increasingly stringent environmental requirements and reach ambitious sustainability targets. StormGeo and Alfa Laval will participate in SMM Hamburg, Stand #A1 226 on 6 – 9 September 2022 to discuss new solutions that help the maritime industry decarbonize its operations and meet environmental requirements.

At SMM Hamburg, StormGeo will host a range of speaker presentations in Room Osaka 3 to share new insights on sustainability and discuss new solutions for decarbonization. These events will feature StormGeo experts in addition to Arne Schulz-Heimbeck (DNV), Barry Authers (DNV), and Niclas Dahl (AlfaWall Oceanbird). Click here to learn more and save your seat.

Source: https://www.xindemarinenews.com/en/market/2022/0906/41606.html

CREWEXPRESS STCW REST HOURS SOFTWARE - Paris and Tokyo MoU have announced that they will jointly launch a new Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) from 1st September 2022 to 30th November 2022


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”.

 

Source: Gibson Shipbrokers

“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

 

CREWEXPRESS STCW REST HOURS SOFTWARE - Paris and Tokyo MoU have announced that they will jointly launch a new Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) from 1st September 2022 to 30th November 2022


Company DETAILS

SHIP IP LTD
VAT:BG 202572176
Rakovski STR.145
Sofia,
Bulgaria
Phone ( +359) 24929284
E-mail: sales(at)shipip.com