inforMARE - FORUM dello shipping e della logistica

ESPO
ANNUAL REPORT 2006-2007

5. The liquid bulk market
5.1 Crude oil production and seaborne liquid bulk trades

As mentioned in the first chapter of this Market Report, the seaborne liquid bulk trade amounted to 2.42 billion tons in 2005, of which 1.86 billion tons crude oil and 0.57 billion tons oil products. Table 34 provides an overview of the world crude oil production for selected years. As this table indicates, OPEC member countries accounted for about 43% of world crude oil production in 2005. This is roughly the same share as in 2000 but significantly up on the 37% market share in 1990. Among the non-OPEC member countries, the most important crude oil producers are the Former USSR (10.94 million barrels per day in 2005), the United States (5.12m barrels), China (3.62m barrels), Norway (2.55m barrels) and the United Kingdom (1.64m barrels). Between them, these five non-OPEC countries produced 23.87 million barrels per day in 2005 or exactly one third of worldwide crude oil production.

Table 34: World crude oil production for selected years ('000 barrels per day)

	1980	1990	2000	2005
Algeria	1,020	784	796	1,352
Indonesia	1,576	1,299	1,273	1,059
Iran	1,467	3,135	3,661	4,092
Iraq	2,646	2,113	2,810	1,913
Kuwait	1,664	859	1,996	2,573
Libya	1,832	1,389	1,347	1,693
Nigeria	2,058	1,727	2,054	2,366
Qatar	471	406	648	766
Saudi Arabia	9,901	6,413	8,095	9,353
UAE	1,702	1,763	2,175	2,378
Venezuela	2,165	2,135	2,891	3,128
Total OPEC	26,502	22,021	27,745	30,673
World total	59,696	59,116	65,880	71,763
OPEC share	44.4%	37.3%	42.1%	42.7%

Source: OPEC (2006)

Whereas OPEC member countries accounted for 42.7% of worldwide crude oil production in 2005, their market share in crude oil exports was 50.9% (Table 35). Other major crude oil exporters in 2005 were located in Eastern Europe (more particularly Russia), Africa (in particular Nigeria, Libya and Algeria) and Latin America (in particular Venezuela and Mexico). The most important crude oil exporters in Western Europe are Norway and the United Kingdom.

Table 35: World crude oil production and exports for selected years ('000 barrels per day)

Production	2000	2005	Exports	2000	2005
North America	7,213	6,480	North America	1,227	1,654
Latin America	9,317	10,207	Latin America	5,054	5,572
Eastern Europe	7,625	11,098	Eastern Europe	4,145	7,531
Western Europe	6,288	4,904	Western Europe	4,960	4,406
Middle East	21,415	22,764	Middle East	16,017	17,186
Africa	6,771	8,857	Africa	5,173	6,478
Asia-Pacific	7,252	7,434	Asia-Pacific	2,266	1,905
Total World	65,880	71,763	Total World	38,842	44,730
OPEC members	27,745	30,673	OPEC members	20,527	22,774
OPEC share	42.1%	42.7%	OPEC share	52.8%	50.9%

Source: OPEC (2006)

³⁸	To be more precise, West Asia includes Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

An overview of the main loading and unloading areas for crude oil in 2005 is given in Table 36. Not surprisingly, this table illustrates the dominance of Middle Eastern countries, which are included under the 'West Asia' heading³⁸, as far as loading is concerned. Major unloading regions include North America, Europe, South and East Asia, and Japan.

Table 36: Loading and unloading areas for crude oil in 2005 (million tons)

Area	Loaded	Unloaded	Area	Loaded	Unloaded
North America	22.2	537.70	Caribbean. Central and North America	125.2	35.1
Europe	63.5	438.40	South America North and East	122.4	52.7
Japan	0	215.00	South America West	30.2	15.9
Australia/New-Zealand	11.2	33.10	Subtotal developing countries in America	277.8	103.7
South Africa	0	15.30	West Asia	934.5	9.9
Subtotal DMECs	96.9	1,239.5	South and East Asia	62.2	313.9
Central and Eastern Europe	132.3	10.5	Subtotal developing countries in Asia	996.7	323.8
Socialist countries of Asia	22.2	115.3	Developing countries in Europe	0	7
North Africa	130.2	49.3	Developing countries in Oceania	4.2	0
West Africa	196.3	3.7	Subtotal developing countries	1,605.2	488.2
East Africa	0	0.7
Subtotal developing countries in Africa	326.5	53.7	World total	1,856.6	1,853.5

Source: UNCTAD (2006)

A similar picture is obtained from Table 37, which depicts the export-import matrix for seaborne crude oil in 2004, the most recent year for which this detailed information is available.

Table 37: Export-Import matrix for seaborne crude oil trade in 2004 (million tons)

From/to	NW Eur.	Medit.	N.Amer.	S.Amer.	Japan	Other Asia	Others	Total
Middle East Gulf	65.8	62.9	130.0	10.6	179.9	352.7	30.3	832.2
Near East	0.1	11.0	1.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	12.2
North Africa	14.5	67.9	21.8	4.0	0.3	5.0	1.0	114.5
West Africa	5.2	21.2	91.7	9.0	7.6	67.4	3.7	205.8
Caribbean	5.0	8.5	189.1	12.5	0.1	6.0	0.3	221.5
SE Asia	0.0	0.0	5.3	0.0	10.2	25.3	15.4	56.2
North Sea	2.3	8.2	46.4	0.6	0.1	4.1	0.2	61.9
Others	88.1	67.2	40.3	14.3	2.2	32.0	5.7	249.8
Total	181.0	246.9	525.7	51.0	200.4	492.5	56.6	1,754.1

Source: Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (2006)

Secondly, an overview of the main loading and unloading areas for oil products, which include products such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petrol gas (LPG), naphta, gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, light oil and heavy oil, is given in Table 38. In contrast to the crude oil trade, a significant amount of oil products is loaded in developed market-economy countries. On the other hand, developing countries in Africa represent a relatively small market share. As far as unloading of oil products is concerned, developing market-economy countries have a market share of 50%.

Table 38: Loading and unloading areas for oil products in 2005 (million tons)

Area	Loaded	Unloaded	Area	Loaded	Unloaded
North America	72.9	144.20	Caribbean. Central and North America	43.4	37.8
Europe	41.8	104.50	South America North and East	73	8.6
Japan	4.3	32.50	South America West	2.2	5.9
Australia/New-Zealand	2.8	6.80	Subtotal developing countries in America	118.6	52.3
South Africa	0	0.90	West Asia	113.9	9.3
Subtotal DMECs	121.8	288.9	South and East Asia	109.9	155.5
Central and Eastern Europe	44.9	3.2	Subtotal developing countries in Asia	223.8	164.8
Socialist countries of Asia	16.4	37.7	Developing Countries in Europe	2.3	2.2
North Africa	35.8	7.9	Developing Countries in Oceania	0.1	6.2
West Africa	1.6	4.2	Subtotal developing countries	382.2	242.8
East Africa	0	5.2
Subtotal developing countries in Africa	37.4	17.3	World total	565.3	572.6

Source: UNCTAD (2006)

5.2 Some key figures on the tanker fleet

Table 39 provides an overview of the tanker fleet for selected dates. At the first of July 2006 the total fleet reached 399.97m dwt, a 20.9% increase compared to the beginning of 2002. This is slightly lower than the 22.4% increase in the dwt capacity of the world merchant fleet over the period considered. As a result, the share of tanker vessel capacity in the world fleet marginally decreased from 41.4% at the beginning of 2002 to 40.9% at mid-2006.

Table 39: Overview of the tanker fleet for selected dates

	01-01-2002		01/07/2006		Growth
	('000 dwt)	%	('000 dwt)	%
Oil tankers	303,234	91,7%	364,025	91.0%	20.0%
Chemical tankers	8,489	2.6%	10,344	2.6%	21.9%
Liquid gas tankers	18,994	5.7%	25,599	6.4%	34.8%
Total liquid bulk fleet	330,717	100%	399,968	100%	20.9%
World merchant fleet	799,763	978,522	22,4%

Source: Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (2006
)

As Table 39 indicates, more than 90% of the dwt capacity of the tanker fleet concerns oil tankers. They registered a 20% increase of their dwt capacity between the beginning of 2002 and mid-2006. A similar percentage increase applies to the chemical tanker fleet. Liquid gas tankers (LNG and LPG), on the other hand, registered a near 35% increase of their dwt capacity over the period considered, resulting in an increasing market share.

Table 40 provides an overview of the tanker fleet divided by dwt range for 01/01/2006. As far as oil tankers are concerned, vessels above 100,000 dwt represent hardly 15% of the total number of ships, but they provide some 65% of the total dwt capacity (the biggest oil tankers afloat measure some 441,000 dwt). On the other hand, all but one chemical tankers are below 50,000 dwt and all liquid gas tankers are in the 0-100,000 dwt range.

Table 40: Breakdown of the tanker fleet by dwt range (as at 01/01/2006)

	Oil tankers			Chemical tankers			Liquid gas tankers
Dwt range	ships	'000 dwt	% dwt	ships	'000 dwt	% dwt	ships	'000 dwt	% dwt
0-9.999	4163	13.324	3.8%	1065	2.831	28.5%	740	2.330	9.6%
10,000-9,999	544	8,205	2.3%	136	2,098	21.1%	72	1,066	4.4%
20,000-49,999	1323	50,897	14.4%	152	4,911	49.4%	148	5,603	23.1%
50,000-69,999	239	14,960	4.2%	0	0	0.0%	104	6,213	25.6%
70,000-99,999	404	35,314	0.0%	0	0	0.0%	120	9,016	37.2%
100,000-149,999	530	62,041	17.5%	1	103	1.0%	0	0	0.0%
150,000-199,999	179	28,353	8.0%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%
200,000-299,999	289	80,784	22.9%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%
300,000-399,999	187	57,487	16.3%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%
400,000+	5	2,172	0.6%	0	0	0.0%	0	0	0.0%
Total liquid bulk fleet	7863	353,537	100%	1354	9.943	100%	1184	24.228	100%

Source: Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (2006)

Finally, Table 41 provides an overview of the total tanker fleet (controlled and registered) by region. As this table indicates, a significant share of the tanker fleet is controlled by European owners. This is especially the case for oil/chemical tankers and product tankers. On the other hand, due to the overwhelming importance of registers like Panama and Liberia in tanker shipping, the regional tonnage distribution shows a stronger concentration on Latin and South America, Asia and Oceania, and Africa when looking at fleet registry.

Table 41: World tanker fleet (controlled and registered) by region as at 01/01/2006 (percentages based on dwt)

		Crude oil tankers	Products tankers	Oil/chemical tankers	Chemical tankers	Liquid gas tankers
Controlled fleet	Europe	40.7%	46.8%	62.0%	34.4%	30.9%
	N.America	9.9%	7.5%	8.1%	11.0%	4.2%
	Lat./S.America	1.4%	5.9%	1.0%	2.8%	1.0%
	Asia/Oceania	43.8%	34.1%	22.8%	43.1%	54.2%
	Africa	0.4%	0.3%	0.8%	2.1%	5.5%
	Unknown	3.7%	5.4%	5.4%	6.6%	4.3%
	Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Registered fleet	Europe	22.2%	25.0%	39.4%	21.7%	27.3%
	N.America	1.6%	2.3%	1.3%	2.6%	0.0%
	Lat./S.America	27.6%	22.6%	19.6%	31.5%	31.6%
	Asia/Oceania	34.1%	36.9%	25.3%	26.2%	29.5%
	Africa	14.4%	13.1%	14.4%	18.1%	11.5%
	Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (2006)

5.3 European shipping companies active in the liquid bulk market

Table 42 provides a (non-exhaustive) overview of the main European shipping companies active in the liquid bulk market. As this table indicates, most of these companies are located in Scandinavia, Germany and Greece. Moreover, quite a number of them are also active in the dry bulk (DB) market.

Table 42: Main European shipping companies active in the liquid bulk market

Country	Shipping Company	DB	Country	Shipping Company	DB
Denmark	Torm		France	Fouquet Sacop
Denmark	Norden	X	France	Green Tankers
Denmark	Lauritzen	X	France	Broström SAS
Denmark	Maersk Tankers		Germany	Schulte group	X
Sweden	Fredriksen group	X	Germany	E. Oldendorff	X
Sweden	Broström		Germany	Ernst Jacob
Sweden	Stena Bulk-Concordia		Germany	Ahrenkiel group
Norway	Viken		Germany	Chemikalien
Norway	Eitzen Group	X	Germany	Gaschem
Norway	KG Jebsen	X	Germany	Essberger-Broere
Norway	Stolt Nielsen		Germany	Sloman Neptun
Norway	Odfjell		Germany	Poseidon Schiffahrt	X
Norway	Jo Tankers		Germany	ASP Shipmgt	X
Norway	Knutsen		Greece	GenMar
Norway	Höegh		Greece	Thenamaris
UK	Zodiac Maritime	X	Greece	Angelicoussis	X
Italy	Premuda		Greece	Dynacom
Italy	D'Amico Nav.	X	Greece	Tsakos
Italy	Bottiglieri	X	Greece	Polembros	X
Italy	Fratelli d'Amato	X	Greece	Gulf Marine
Italy	Nav. Montanari		Greece	Eastern Med. Mar.
Belgium	Euronav		Greece	Minerva Marine
Spain	Elcano	X	Greece	Centrofin Mgt.
France	Socatra		Greece	Hellespont
France	Petromarine		Greece	Aeolos
France	Navale française		Greece	Eletson

Source: Isemar (2007)

5.4 Liquid bulk cargo handled in European seaports

Table 43 provides an overview of liquid bulk traffic handled in a selection of European seaports. The table was drawn from a large Eurostat database containing about 330 ports, handling a total throughput of 1.58 billion tons of liquid bulk traffic in 2005. However, for the present Report we have limited ourselves to those seaports which handled at least 500,000 tons of liquid bulk traffic. This resulted in a total ports sample of nearly 180 individual ports spread across 24 different countries. Their combined liquid bulk throughput amounted to 1.55 billion tons in 2005, effectively representing 98% of the total liquid bulk throughput of the 330 ports in the Eurostat database.

³⁹

In 2006 more than 28 million tons of crude oil was transported through the Rotterdam-Antwerp Pipe Line (RAPL).

⁴⁰

In Tables 43 and 53 of this Market Report, "Bergen Ports" (Norway) includes Bergen, Mongstad, Sture, Ågotnes, Eikefet, Askøy and Modalen. Similarly, "Haugesund Ports" comprises Haugesund, Tysvær, Karmøy/Kårstø, Skudeneshavn and Kopervik. Next, "Porsgrunn Ports" includes Porsgrunn, Rafnes, Herøya, Brevik, Skien, Langesund and Voldsfjorden, while "Stavanger Ports" comprises Stavanger, Sola/Risavik, Forus, Dusavik and Mekjarvik. Finally, "Drammen Ports" includes Drammen, Solumstrand, Tørkopp, Lier, Hurum, Tofte and Svelvik.

As can be seen from Table 43, the lion's share of this volume was handled in ports in the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Spain. Between them, these five countries accounted for 1.03 billion tons of liquid bulk traffic in 2005. On an individual port basis, by far the biggest liquid bulk port in Europe is Rotterdam, handling nearly 170 million tons in 2005. This represents more than 10% of the combined liquid bulk throughput of the 330 ports in the Eurostat database. One of the main reasons for Rotterdam's strong market position is its extremely favourable nautical accessibility for VLCC and ULCC vessels, coupled with its good connections with the major petrochemical clusters in Rotterdam and Antwerp³⁹. Other major liquid bulk ports, handling more than 25 million tons per year, include Bergen Ports⁴⁰ in Norway, Marseilles and Le Havre (France), Wilhelmshaven (Germany), Tees & Hartlepool, Milford Haven, Forth and Southampton (UK), Antwerp (Belgium), and Trieste and Augusta (Italy). Apart from these ports, 31 other ports handled between 10 and 25 million tons of liquid bulk cargo in 2005. At the other end of the spectrum, no less than 85 ports handled less than 1 million ton of liquid bulk cargo.

Table 43: Overview of liquid bulk traffic handled in European seaports (2005)

Port	tons	Port	tons
Antwerp	36,840,786	Larnaca (Larnaka) Oil Terminal	1,277,913
Zeebrugge	4,163,457	Vassilico (Vassiliko)	527,630
Ghent	3,339,664	Other Cypriotic ports	963,082
Other Belgian ports	69,735	Cyprus	2,768,625
Belgium	44,413,642	Ventspils	17,660,259
Burgas	8,912,930	Riga	3,516,307
Varna	788,839	Liepaja	663,2 6
Bulgaria	9,701,769	Latvia	21,839,782
Fredericia (Og Shell-Havnen)	15,188,845	Klaipeda	7,214,523
Statoil-Havnen	7,780,532	Butinge	6,126,919
Københavns Havn	3,137,249	Lithuania	13,341,442
Århus	1,731,271	Malta (Valetta)	1,090,550
Aalborg	1,086,053	Marsaxlokk	665,123
Esbjerg	552,226	Malta	1,755,673
Other Danish Ports	926,044	Rotterdam	167,869,712
Denmark	30,402,220	Amsterdam	18,846,79
Wilhelmshaven	43,644,543	Terneuzen	6,583,085
Hamburg	13,067,544	Vlissingen	3,779,905
Brunsbüttel	5,476,317	Moerdijk	2,093,788
Rostock	2,646,475	Vlaardingen	1,618,214
Bützfleth	2,317,451	Other Dutch ports	1,089,720
Bremen, Blumenthal	1,643,619	Netherlands	201,881,215
Emden	861,106	Gdansk	11,731,621
Nordenham	685,536	Gdynia	1,046,743
Other German ports	1,260,393	Szczecin	627,657
Germany	71,602,984	Other Polish ports	503,297
Tallinn	24,413,634	Poland	13,909,318
Miiduranna	2,025,245	Sines	18,552,681
Vene-Balti	1,021,845	Leixões	7,713,006
Other Estonian ports	122,444	Setúbal	1,716,537
Estonia	27,583,168	Lisboa	1,608,907
Cork	6,546,401	Aveiro	536,486
Dublin	4,037,405	Other Portuguese ports	704,927
Limerick	1,835,645	Portugal	30,832,544
Bantry Bay	825,458	Constanta	13,824,543
Other Irish ports	535,095	Midia	1,314,963
Ireland	13,780,004	Other Romanian ports	182,591
Agii Theodori	12,989,894	Romania	15,322,097
Megara	8,545,088	Koper	2,039,003
Thessaloniki	8,147,900	Slovenia	2,039,003
Eleusina	8,137,036	Sköldvik	17,349,524
Perama	841,001	Naantali	4,053,655
Heraklio	671,206	Hamina	1,703,243
Rhodes	658,466	Oulu	1,091,239
Other Greek ports	2,048,436	Kotka	1,075,660
Greece	42,039,027	Kokkola	939,185
Algeciras	21,447,343	Pori	664,298
Cartagena	20,847,760	Kemi	526,055
Bilbao	19,717,492	Other Finnish ports	2,465,252
Tarragona	17,904,143	Finland	29,868,111
Huelva	12,936,171	Göteborg	19,673,855
Barcelona	12,202,205	Brofjorden Preemraff	19,221,261
Santa Cruz de Tenerife	9,558,027	Stenungsund (Ports)	3,362,723
Castellón	8,949,177	Malmö	2,943,541
La Coruña	8,533,773	Nynäshamn (ports)	2,302,813
Las Palmas	4,798,070	Karlshamn	2,285,702
Palma Mallorca	2,067,814	Norrköping	1,351,987
Gijón	1,418,468	Gävle	1,320,899
Valencia	1,380,287	Oxelösund (ports)	1,251,887
Molina de Segura	1,322,436	Stockholm	1,051,850
Ferrol	822,346	Bergs Oljehamn	1,025,949
Avilés	740,096	Helsingborg	740,990
Ceuta	611,011	Sundsvall	561,170
Other Spanish ports	1,489,563	Skellefteå	541,849
Spain	146,746,182	Västerås	526,032
Marseille	65,688,272	Other Swedish ports	2,325,563
Le Havre	46,824,700	Sweden	60,488,071
Nantes Saint-Nazaire	23,637,552	Tees & Hartlepool	36,894,324
Dunkerque	14,849,408	Milford Haven	36,384,369
Rouen	10,748,084	Forth	29,100,329
Bordeaux	5,361,370	Southampton	28,170,916
La Rochelle	2,690,687	Immingham	24,291,746
Bayonne	1,699,189	Sullom Voe	20,492,480
Sète	1,585,398	London	20,170,666
Fort-de France (Martinique)	1,432,000	Kirkwall	14,372,940
Port-la-Nouvelle	1,421,839	Liverpool	13,148,158
Lorient	1,221,466	River Hull & Humber	8,637,580
Brest	1,121,865	Manchester	5,453,570
Guadeloupe (Guadeloupe)	764,304	Clydeport	3,498,541
Port Réunion (ex Pointe-des-Galets)	759,608	Cromarty Firth	3,115,021
Other French ports	251,111	Belfast	3,106,938
France	180,056,853	Medway	2,694,050
Trieste	35,818,499	Bristol	2,664,831
Augusta	31,994,840	Hull	2,438,029
Santa Panagia	23,254,246	Aberdeen	1,995,581
Porto Foxi	22,727,718	Plymouth	1,314,783
Genova	18,287,138	Cardiff	1,263,941
Milazzo	17,480,902	Dundee	662,685
Venezia	13,520,081	Peterhead	501,369
Livorno	8,901,205	Other UK ports	2,386,175
Gela	7,941,833	United Kingdom	262,759,022
Taranto	7,662,316	Omi'alj	7,120,774
Savona-Vado	7,646,096	Bakar	2,086,893
Fiumicino	6,541,600	Split	520,510
Napoli	5,833,409	Other Croatian ports	720,534
Ravenna	5,303,003	Croatia	10,448,711
Falconara Marittima	4,893,761	Bergen Ports	68,981,252
La Spezia	3,575,701	Tønsberg/Slagentangen/Valløy	9,637,77
Brindisi	2,814,240	Haugesund Ports	9,295,468
Porto Torres	2,738,915	Porsgrunn Ports	2,856,500
Civitavecchia	2,441,594	Oslo	1,927,885
Gaeta	1,944,235	Kristiansund N/Grip	1,781,600
Palermo	1,234,998	Bremanger	1,156,233
Lipari	1,231,125	Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg	894,089
Portovesme	1,089,976	Stavanger Ports	843,870
Vibo Valentia	905,728	Trondheim/Flakk	583,334
Ortona	838,963	Other Norwegian ports	5,603,160
Cagliari	603,237	Norway	103,561,162
Catania	523,051
Other Italian ports	3,931,391
Italy	241,679,801	Total all ports	1,578,820,426

Source: Eurostat

Overview of main developments in the European liquid bulk market during 2006

Development of the liquid bulk fleet in 2006

According to Clarkson Research Services Ltd, the world tanker fleet (vessels above 10,000 dwt) comprised 4278 vessels at the end of 2006, for a combined capacity of 363.9 million dwt. This represents an increase of some 6% compared to the end of 2005. At the end of 2006 worldwide tanker orderbooks counted no less than 1662 vessels (of which 511 to be delivered in 2007) for a combined capacity of 141.16 million dwt. This is a massive 39% of the tanker fleet capacity at the end of 2006. Finally, 74 tankers above 10,000 dwt were sent to the scrapyards in 2006, for a combined 2.96 million dwt capacity.

At the end of 2006, the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fleet fleet counted 1034 vessels for 15.30 million cubic metres (11.89 million dwt), a 5.8% increase compared to the end of 2005 (14.66 million cubic metres). At the end of 2006 the LPG orderbook comprised 189 vessels for a combined capacity of 6.90 million cubic metres. This represents some 45% of the fleet capacity at that time.

At the end of 2006, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleet fleet counted 222 vessels for 27.02 million cubic metres (15.03 million dwt), a 16.6% increase compared to the end of 2005 (23.17 million cubic metres). At the end of 2006 the LNG orderbook comprised 138 vessels for a combined capacity of 23.14 million cubic metres. This represents a staggering 86% of the fleet capacity at that time.

Port/terminal development in Europe (non-exhaustive)

In many European seaports private companies are nowadays investing heavily in an increase of their tank storage capacity. The port of Antwerp is a prime example, with investment projects by such companies as Oiltanking Stolthaven, Vopak, ADPO and LBC. The investments concern both the expansion of existing facilities and the construction of new terminals on both banks of the River Scheldt.

Similarly, European seaports have also recently witnessed a proliferation of plans and projects for the construction of LNG terminals. Examples include the El Ferrol LNG Terminal in Mugardos (Galicia) and the Sagas Terminal in Sagunto (both with a 300,000 m' storage capacity), the expansion of the Isle of Grain LNG Terminal in the Medway estuary (comprising an additional 3 x 190,000 m' storage tanks), a new terminal in Milfordhaven developed by Dragon LNG as well as the South Hook LNG Terminal in the same port, plans for an offshore LNG reception terminal at Teesside ('GasPort'), the offshore regasification Terminal GNL Adriatico in Rovigo, an LNG terminal at Brindisi and plans for an LNG terminal in the port of Gdansk. Moreover, expansion of the Fluxys LNG terminal in Zeebrugge is in the pipeline, as well as new projects for LNG facilities in the port of Rotterdam.

Other significant developments (non-exhaustive)

In September 2006 Maersk Tankers announced plans to expand its fleet by 14% per year up till 2009 in order to become one of the top-three tanker operators in the world. Its total fleet has grown by close to 9% per year over the last five years. The expansion will include its business both within VLCC crude carriers, product tankers, gas carriers and LNG carriers.

In December 2006 A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S and Teekay Shipping Corporation announced an agreement to form Swift Tankers, a pool of Intermediate Product Tankers. The management company, named Swift Tankers Ltd, will provide safe and flexible solutions to customers by offering a large, homogenous fleet of double hull, ice-class Product Tankers of 10,000 to 20,000 dwt. The initial combined fleet comprises more than 20 vessels.

Source: Journal de la Marine Marchande (22/12/2006) and various trade press articles

BACK TO INDEX