A ULCC storing low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) for Euronav is set to move off for a top-up before shifting east to a new location.
TradeWinds understands Euronav’s 441,561-dwt ULCC Oceania (built 2003) is heading to Spain to take on more cargo in a ship-to-ship operation from a suezmax tanker.
Oceania is then due to sail to Malaysia where it will continue its storage play with a 420,000-tonne cargo of LSFO onboard.
Brokers said the warmer waters of southeast Asia are preferable for oil cargo storage and the region is preferred strategic position for bunkering.
Bloomberg reported today that Oceania had changed its destination to Ceuta in Spain.
Oceania has been sitting in the Mediterranean off Malta since the start of this year.
TradeWinds reported in February that Euronav had bought two fuel oil cargoes that it planned to store on Oceania in advance of the IMO’s incoming sulphur cap on 1 January 2020.
The move was largely seen as a price hedge in advance of the new regulations and a gambit to provide the company with a supply of LSFO of a guaranteed quality.
Euronav’s tanker fleet burns around one million tonnes per annum of bunkers.
The company has had a change of leadership this year with the appointment of Hugo De Stoop as chief executive.
Former CEO Paddy Rodgers had been vocal in his opposition to the choice of exhaust gas emission scrubbers to meet the 2020 regulations. Under his leadership the company trialled LSFO on its vessels.
All eyes are on Euronav’s sistership ULCC, the Europe (built 2002) which has been lying empty off Malaysia.
Rogers previously spoke about this vessel being a potential candidate for high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) storage from 1 January, if the price of HSFO falls sufficiently low.
Euronav has started its own oil trading operations headed by Rustin Edwards who works out of Geneva.
