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Fortunes have improved in the tanker market as of late, as per the latest monthly OPEC report. In October, tanker spot freight rates for dirty vessels increased considerably, with gains being registered across all classes trading on all major routes. As the market approaches the winter season, tanker market spot freight rates saw notable improvements following a year of accumulative losses. On average, dirty tanker spot rates rose by 28% in October from a month earlier. Rate developments in October showed Aframax spot freight rates achieved the strongest growth compared ...

Instances of damage to vessels’ machinery, including engine breakdowns, as a result of contaminated fuel have reached unprecedented levels. Since the first reports of this ‘bad bunker’ fuel appeared in Houston at the beginning of 2018, it is thought that hundreds of ships have been affected globally. Norwegian Hull Club has – as of October 2018 – received some 30 reports of incidents arising from bunkers in Singapore, the US, Colombo and Panama. Eighty per cent of these cases occurred on the US Gulf Coast. Consequences The consequences of this ...

Liberia has become the first ship registry to be admitted to the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) as an associate member. Alfonso Castillero, CCO of the Liberian Registry, says, “We are greatly honoured to be the first ship registry admitted as an associate member of the MACN. The organization has done great work fighting corrupt practices in some of the most difficult regions in the industry. MACN’s model of government and local partner collaboration, and industry-led collective action, is considered global best-practice. It’s not often the shipping sector gets that sort ...

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose for the second straight session on Friday, boosted by stronger capesize demand. * The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 11 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,031 points. * However, the index has declined for the fourth consecutive week, and has lost nearly 30 percent in the last two weeks. * The capesize index rose 5 percent, or 50 points, to 1,057 points. SPONSORED STORIES * ...

Euroseas Ltd., an owner and operator of container carrier vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for containerized cargoes, announced its results for the three and nine month period ended September 30, 2018. The Spin-off On May 30, 2018, the Company spun-off its drybulk fleet (excluding M/V Monica P, a handymax drybulk carrier, which was agreed to be sold) into EuroDry Ltd., a separate publicly listed company also listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Shareholders of the Company received one EuroDry Ltd. share for every five shares of the Company they ...

The consolidation between GulfMark and Tidewater is a positive for the market. With Tidewater’s steadfast and unyielding attitude towards the scrapping of non-performing vessels, this is a good chance for the market to reduce some of its oversupply. Hopefully with this new entity taking the lead, other market players might follow suit. It is also important to note that consolidation in today’s market only works if lenders are willing to take haircuts and provide an opportunity for these companies to start afresh with a clean balance sheet. In the case ...

The market trend continues to abate with the New ConTex declining through all segments. Charterers are more and more trying to push the

The man running the world’s largest container-shipping company says he has access to data that shows Donald Trump has so far failed to wean the U.S. off Chinese imports. Soren Skou, the chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, says Chinese exports to the U.S. actually grew 5-10 percent last quarter. Meanwhile, U.S. exports to China fell by 25-30 percent. “It’s an ironic development,” Skou told reporters in Copenhagen on Wednesday. “But after Trump has turned up the volume, the U.S. has only increased their imports from China even more.” There ...

After a fairly quiet week, the VLCC market is prepared to get back to work. This week, a dip was observed in the market, as not many people

Almost half of Iran’s state-owned oil tankers have stopped broadcasting their geographical positions over the past month, leaving an uncertain picture of the country’s seaborne crude exports after the reintroduction of US sanctions. The move comes as Iran oil shipments have fallen by almost 730,000 b/d since May, when the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. At least 25 tankers owned by Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Company have not posted any update of their position by satellite using the Automatic Identification System (AIS) since November 10, according to S&P ...

Frontline Ltd. Friday reported unaudited results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018: Highlights -Net income attributable to the Company of $2.2 million, or $0.01 per share, for the third quarter of 2018. -Net loss attributable to the Company adjusted for certain non-cash items of $8.4 million, or $0.05 per share, for the third quarter of 2018. -Spot TCE of $22,000 for VLCCs less than 15 years of age in the third quarter. -Spot TCE of $35,000 booked for 74% of vessel days for VLCCs less than ...

BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage and financial technology company, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Poten & Partners Group, Inc. (“Poten”), a leading ship brokerage, consulting and business intelligence firm specialising in LNG, tanker and LPG markets. Founded over 80 years ago and with 170 employees worldwide, Poten provides its clients with valuable insight into the international oil, gas and shipping markets. Under the terms of the agreement, BGC acquired 100% of Poten, which includes operations in New York, London, Singapore, Houston, Athens, Guangzhou and Perth. ...

Sovcomflot (SCF Group), a world leader in energy shipping and offshore services to the oil and gas industries specializing in harsh environment work, reported its results for the third quarter (Q3) and nine months (9M) ending 30 September 2018. Tanker market background During the reporting period, the tanker freight markets remained in a depressed state as vessel supply continued to outstrip vessel demand. Signs of a better balance have emerged more recently following longer term oil price recovery and worldwide fleet removals over 2H 2017 and 1H 2018. These factors, ...

Japan’s bunker fuel demand has softened following a peak in August, when buyers turned to Japanese supplies after a spate of fuel contamination issues in the Singapore bunker market. Off-specification bunker fuel has had significant impact on bunker markets this year. The compound suspected to have caused the damage of more than 100 vessels worldwide this year is 4-cumyl-phenol. Its adhesive and binding qualities caused plungers and pumps to stick, leading to engine failure in some cases. Harmful components were first seen in samples of bunker fuel in the US ...

MPC Container Ships ASA (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements for the purchase of five exhaust gas cleaning systems (“scrubbers”) which are to be retrofitted on five selected vessels within the Company’s fleet prior to the 1 January 2020 implementation date of the new sulphur emission cap regulation, as set forth by the International Maritime Organization. The agreements also include options to purchase scrubbers for up to 50 additional vessels, allowing for further installations in both 2019 and early 2020, respectively. The Company will ...