Strait of Hormuz Snapshot: Clean tankers wait, change plans
Strait of Hormuz Snapshot: Clean tankers wait, change plans
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The growing risks – and associated costs – for tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz following US-Iran tensions has yet to result in significant disruption through the global waterway, and Mideast Gulf crude and refined product loadings continue apace. But a handful of recent diversions in tanker trajectories, declared destinations and changes in bookings to load in the region may reflect a change in plans for some. We highlight such instances among several clean tankers ballasting to pick up their next cargo, including those booked by oil majors.
Vortexa Oil News – In Brief:
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Trajectory change: The LR1-sized tanker Lake Trout, provisionally booked by oil major Total to load 60,000 mt of jet fuel from the Mideast Gulf (likely Saudi Arabia’s Jubail refinery) around 15 January for a delivery to northwest Europe, began veering away on 5 January from the typical path it would have taken there. Its most recent declaration on 10 January was “Armed Guards on Board”. The top country destinations for Total-chartered jet fuel loading from Saudi Arabia to northwest Europe are the UK, France and Netherlands, Vortexa data show.
- Declaration, booking change: The handymax tanker Politisa Lady changed course from Jubail, Saudi Arabia – which it last broadcasted as its destination on 6 January – when it was provisionally tied to an Aramco Trading fixture to load 35,000 mt of gasoline from Jubail around 10 January. Later fixtures showed Gulf Petrochem booking the same tanker to load the same quantity of naphtha from the UAE’s Hamriyah port on the same dates, for Singapore delivery. The tanker is offshore Hamriyah, as of 10 January.
- Waiting: The LR2-sized tanker Navig8 Providence was provisionally booked by BP to load 75,000 mt of naphtha from the Mideast Gulf around 8 January for delivery to the Far East. It is currently floating offshore Fujairah. The top country destinations in the Far East for BP-chartered naphtha loadings out of the Mideast Gulf are South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Vortexa data indicate.
- CPP Impact: In the event of serious disruption to Strait of Hormuz oil passage, clean petroleum product exports such as naphtha and LPG heading to Asia would be most impacted among refined products, followed by middle distillates heading to Europe, Africa and Asia – the topic of our previous note.
Interested in a more detailed view of these flows?
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