Supertankers May Sail Empty to West Africa for Oil, Pareto Says

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

19 Nov 2010

Shipowners may send empty supertankers to West Africa rather than the main Persian Gulf cargo-loading region to seek better rental income, Pareto Securities AS said. Owners can reap an extra $17,395 a day shipping West African oil to the U.S. compared with the Middle East-to-Asia trade route, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the reverse of two weeks ago, when vessels trading in the Eastern Hemisphere were making about $31,000 a day more. A ship sailing without a cargo is said to be ballasting. “Hopes are that ballasters heading to West Africa will help tighten the market” in the Persian Gulf, Martin Korsvold, an analyst at Oslo-based investment bank Pareto, said in an e- mailed note today.
Vessel shortages sometimes arise in West Africa when supertankers delivering Atlantic Ocean-basin cargoes to Asia outnumber those heading in the opposite direction to supply Middle East oil to refineries in Europe and the U.S.

Source: Alaric Nightingale, Bloomberg