New York: Unipec remained the world’s top dirty spot charterer in 2013, according to Poten & Partners. Unipec outpaced its nearest contender Shell by nearly double the volume.
Unipec held onto its number one position, both in number of fixtures concluded as well as total volume moved.
“It is interesting to note the emergence of Unipec over the past decade versus the consistency of the major oil companies. PetroChina posted 159 fixtures in 2003 and nearly 300 last year,” Poten noted.
Unipec held onto its top position for VLCC cargo movements in 2013, fixing more than three times the number of ships than PetroChina.
“Chinese chartering activity was the driving force behind the total increase in volumes this year as many charterers, including Exxon, Vela, and CPC all with reported declines of 20% or greater when compared to 2012,” Poten noted.
In conclusion the American firm wrote: “The increase in the number of fixtures reported from 2012 is a promising trend for tanker owners trading in the spot market. Despite rising US domestic crude production and the increasing number of rail and pipeline shipments, tanker activity remained robust. More cargoes, combined with a slowing trend in deliveries, helped contribute to the stronger rates at the end of 2013.” [07/01/14]
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