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Daily rates on main tanker routes as compiled by shipbroker Charles R. Weber.

Not that many years ago, consumers would order a product to come through the mail, and it would take weeks to arrive. Sometimes, there was an option to pay more — usually a lot more — for faster service, but the phrase “wait four to six weeks for delivery” was a familiar one. Those days have gone the way of pay phones and 12 CDs for a penny, as Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has fundamentally changed consumer expectations of delivery. The paid Amazon Prime service has made two-day delivery the bare minimum, ...

Implementing “Just-In-Time” (JIT) operations to cut the time ships spend idling outside ports can help cut emissions. This is good for the environment and can cut costs too. But there are a number of contractual and operational barriers to overcome before this could be implemented worldwide. For some types of ships, such as bulk carriers and tankers, clauses in charterparty contracts currently act as a barrier to the uptake of JIT. For other ship types, such as container ships, contractual barriers do not exist, allowing the ship’s master to reduce ...

Following its strong growth plan, IB is excited to announce that as of February 2019 opens a new office in Limassol, Cyprus. “Today, Cyprus is a key market for software integrators and innovators like we are. IB Fleet Operation Remote Control Center (FORCE) software is an absolute state-of-the-art product that is quickly raising interest in the shipping community,” as per Mr. Giampiero Soncini, CEO of IB Marine Division. “We have already gained a substantial amount of work which has allowed us to hire seven new employees. I personally believe that ...

Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Hoegh LNG Partners (NYSE:HMLP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note. According to Zacks, “Hoegh LNG Partners LP is a provider of floating LNG services under long-term contracts. The Company owns and operates floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) which act as floating LNG import terminals, and LNG carriers which transport the LNG to its markets. Hoegh LNG Partners LP is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. “ Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays ...

Back-to-back rotations for seafarers will help to improve the safety and efficiency of ship operations and the wellbeing of crews, Nautilus told a meeting at the International Maritime Organisation. Speaking at a conference to discuss the results of a major research project investigating the effectiveness of stable crewing policies for senior officers, professional and technical officer David Appleton welcomed the results of the Solent University study. Researchers conducted in-depth analysis of the benefits of having a system in which the top four roles onboard return to the same ship on ...

Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, L.L.C. in Louisiana, USA, has awarded TMC Compressors of the Seas (TMC) a contract to deliver a complete marine compressed air system to a 100 metre long pelagic trawler the yard is building for Seattle based Arctic Storm Management Group, LLC. TMC’s scope of work is to develop and supply a complete marine compressed air system consisting of energy efficient service and instrument air compressors as well as air dryers. TMC’s contract value is undisclosed. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2021, and it will be ...

India’s government was announced to have set aside USD21 million in this year’s budget as expenditure for the Iranian southeastern port of Chabahar growth. According to the Financial Express, “For Chabahar port, New Delhi’s key connectivity plan with Afghanistan and central Asia remained unchanged from the previous year at Rs 150 crore.” It comes after India signed a deal with both Iran and Afghanistan in October last year on the transport of products through the southeastern port. The trio penned the agreement at the first meeting of coordination council of ...

Australian independent oil and gas producer Santos’ successful completion of the two-well program in the Van Gogh oilfield could help spur a long-awaited recovery in both production and exports of Australia’s heavy sweet crude oil in 2019. Australia has a long history of oil and gas production, but the Oceania producer has been paying more attention to a slew of new LNG projects rather than upstream oil discoveries over the past decade, resulting in a sharp rise in gas and condensate exports but a big drop in crude shipments in ...

Yamal LNG has shipped 10 million tonnes of LNG since production began in December 2017, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas project said. It said the 136th cargo was offloaded on to the Arc7 ice-class tanker Vladimir Vize. Yamal LNG’s annual capacity stands at 16.5 million tonnes with plans to increase to 17.4 million tonnes. Novatek holds a 50.1 percent stake in Yamal LNG, France’s Total and China’s CNPC each own 20 percent. China’s Silk Road Fund controls 9.9 percent of the project. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by ...

Chicago soybean futures rose for a third session on Tuesday amid Chinese buying, but ample global supplies kept a lid on the market. Wheat edged lower and corn prices gained ground in early Asian trade. FUNDAMENTALS * The Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybean contract had gained 0.1 percent to $9.19-1/4 a bushel by 0146 GMT, while wheat slid 0.2 percent to $5.24-3/4 a bushel. Corn gained 0.2 percent to $3.80 a bushel. * The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday confirmed private sales of 612,000 tonnes of U.S. ...

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, a day after data showing a decline in U.S. factory orders dragged both benchmarks down from 2019 highs. Despite the slide, investors expect U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and production cuts led by OPEC to head off a glut this year, buoying prices. U.S. crude futures were down 17 cents, or 0.31 percent, at $54.39 per barrel by 1215 GMT. They touched their highest in more than two months at $55.75 the previous day. Brent crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.38 percent, at $62.27 ...

Japan remained a net oil product importer for the second year in a row in 2018 and is likely to remain an active product importer in 2019 as any unexpected refinery issues threaten to further squeeze domestic supplies, making the tight supply-demand balance even more fragile. Japan’s oil product imports averaged 621,009 b/d in 2018, with imports of both gasoline and gasoil more than doubling year on year, exceeding oil product exports of 522,736 b/d, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data last week. ...

After a difficult few years, the exploration sector is back in the black – and keen to stay there. New analysis from Wood Mackenzie shows that explorers’ success in 2018 reflects a disciplined approach that’s set to continue this year. Dr Andrew Latham, vice president, Global exploration, said: “We are seeing a long-overdue recovery in the sector. Last year conventional exploration returns hit 13% – the highest calculated in more than a decade. As 2018’s discoveries are appraised and projects move through the development cycle, we expect these economics to ...

Oil markets are global, and therefore oil prices around the world generally move in tandem. There are differences in oil prices based on quality and geography, but the fungible nature of oil usually prevents specific benchmarks from getting too far out of line with other benchmarks. In the U.S., we are most familiar with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark and the internationally traded Brent crude. WTI is of slighter higher quality than Brent, and prior to about 2006 WTI almost always traded at a $1-$2/barrel premium over Brent. In ...