- Euronav has chartered a tanker to bring a 30,000 tonne cargo of low-sulphur fuel oil from northwest Europe to Malta.
- They have parked the mega tanker, Oceania, offshore Malta since Jan. 12, as per ship-tracking data.
- Vortexa said that the STI Brixton tanker loaded low-sulphur fuel oil from Antwerp on March 9 and is due to reach Malta by Wednesday.
- Here it will likely transfer its cargo via a ship-to-ship operation onto the ultra large crude carrier (ULCC).
Euronav has chartered a tanker to bring a 30,000 tonne cargo of low-sulphur fuel oil from northwest Europe to Malta, reports Reuters.
Oceania to Store Clean Fuel
Euronav has parked its mega tanker, Oceania, offshore Malta since Jan. 12, as per ship-tracking data. Oil analytics firm Vortexa said that the STI Brixton tanker loaded low-sulphur fuel oil from Antwerp on March 9. It is due to reach Malta by Wednesday. Here it will likely transfer its cargo via a ship-to-ship operation onto the ultra large crude carrier (ULCC).
Vortexa also said that this is the first observed STS shipment loaded onto the Oceania mega tanker since it arrived offshore Malta. Euronav decided to deploy the Oceania to store clean fuel as part of its IMO 2020 initiatives.
How will IMO 2020 affect Euronav?
Beginning next year, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships from using fuels with a sulphur content of more than 0.5 percent. This cap on sulphur is in comparison with 3.5 percent now; one of the biggest changes to hit the oil market in decades.
Only ships equipped with sulphur cleaning kits known as scrubbers will be allowed to continue burning high-sulphur fuels. Euronav is one of the world’s biggest shipowners with a fleet of around 70. Traders said they have seen Euronav actively buying fuel oil recently.
More Active Shipowners
“Euronav’s chartering and fuel oil purchasing activity signals an emerging trend of shipowners becoming more active in the trading arena,” said senior Vortexa trading specialist, Cosmo Kedros. “We expect to see more of this across Europe and Asia in the run-up to the IMO 2020 deadline,” he added.
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Source: Reuters
