Shipbrokers say Chinese trading giant Unipec fixed Delta Tankers' 111,000-dwt Delta Pioneer (built 2004) and the 166,500-dwt Hrvatska (built 2005) from Tankerska Plovidba of Croatia.
They claim the aframax was hired to transport crude oil from Primorsk to Europe and believe the suezmax was chartered for a voyage from Kozmino to South Korea and China.
While the rates remain a mystery analysts from ICAP Shipping say aframaxes and suezmaxes trading in the spot market have been earning approximately $9,066 and $6,181 per day, respectively, on average.
The UK brokerage claims it was a relatively quiet day in the VLCC segment but noticed Chinese charters were “rather busy” and note that daily levels tied to routes linking West Africa to Ningbo were on the rise with averages of around $6,200.
US tanker owner General Maritime Corp, which is in the process of establishing tanker pools with Unipec, was among the handful of VLCC operators that managed to fight the lunar lull after chartering the 306,500-dwt Genmar Atlas(built 2004) to Tai Oil.
The vessel is believed to be one of the 18 suezmaxes and VLCCs that the Peter Georgiopoulos-led company has committed to the partnership with the Sinopec offshoot, which was dubbed "Unique Tankers" and will be run by teams in London and Manhattan.
Shipbrokers say another Genmar suezmax, the 160,500-dwt Genmar Horn(ex-Crude Horn, built 1999), on Monday secured a spot fixture backed by BP, which took the tanker for a voyage from the Caribbean to Europe.
As we have reported, many researchers fear suezmax rates will remain flat over the next several months but some, like Donald Bogden of MJLF, believe Genmar’s alliance with Unipec bodes well for the segment and think this type of tanker will be an increasingly important part of the Chinese trader’s supply chain going forward.
