- A newly build 299,633 dwt vessel is carrying 280,000mt of diesel to Rotterdam.
- VLCC Tonegawa is the 4th ship carrying diesel to Europe, since June.
- The vessel might stop offshore at Lome to discharge the cargo or go to the Mediterranean.
- Nobody is quite sure where will be the cargo discharged, eventually.
Following the wake of 3 other VLCCs which have brought diesel to Europe since the beginning of June, the VLCC Tonegawa has set sail for Rotterdam loaded with 280,000 mt of 10 ppm diesel offshore Fujairah. The newly built 299,633 dwt vessel left Imari in Japan on 12th July for her maiden voyage says a report published in Platts.
According to market sources and S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow, the ship loaded diesel via ship-to-ship transfer out of three LR2s off Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.
Other Such Recent Loadings
One of the long-range tankers was reported to be the Nan Lin Wan, which had loaded a 94,824 mt cargo from Fujairah at the end of July. The two other long-range tankers, the Mare Nostrum and the Sea Star, loaded respectively 95,515 mt and 90,879 mt of 10 ppm diesel from Sikka in India in early August.
A source at Koch confirmed it had chartered the Tonegawa, but declined to comment on the cargo spec or destination.
Vessels Carrying Diesel
If the Tonegawa continues to Rotterdam it will be the fourth VLCC of diesel to arrive in Europe since the start of June, after a large number of newbuild VLCCs came onto the market this year and offsetting a US-Europe arbitrage that had not been working very well for diesel recently.
The Maran Aphrodite was the first, arriving in the Mediterranean mid-June, while the DHT Stallion arrived in northwest Europe in mid-July. The Xin Hui Yang was the third, arriving in Rotterdam on August 5 with a diesel cargo from China, Singapore and Fujairah.
A fifth VLCC, the New Eminence, was initially expected to come to Europe, but instead discharged half its 10 ppm diesel cargo offshore Lome, Togo, via ship-to-ship transfer for sale in South America and a couple of much smaller clips for the regional market, before heading to the Mediterranean with reportedly some 40,000 mt of product still aboard.
Probable Route of Tonegawa
According to a trader, since the Tonegawa has to sail around the Cape of Good Hope on its way to Europe, it might follow the example of the New Eminence and stop offshore Lome to discharge via STS, or go to the Mediterranean where STS would also be necessary. It could also go to New York, or continue its route to Rotterdam.
“I think even [the charterer] does not know for sure where the cargo will eventually go, he will decide later depending on market conditions,” he said.
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Source: S&P Global
