[firestarter]

4,500 tons of crude oil spill from Japanese tanker in Indian Ocean
Mon Aug 14 2006 23:42:39 ET:
About 4,500 tons of crude oil are believed to have spilled in the Indian Ocean from a tanker operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. after the tanker collided with a cargo vessel, the Japanese shipping company said Tuesday.
It may be the largest oil spill accident involving a Japanese tanker, KYODO wire reports.

[Lighthouse]

4500 tons. Ho many barrels are this?

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lighthouse', '4')500 tons. Ho many barrels are this?

[Dreamtwister]

So...around 33,000 barrels.

You know, this is going to happen more and more often as markets get tighter.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dreamtwister', 'S')o...around 33,000 barrels. You know, this is going to happen more and more often as markets get tighter.

[ClassicSpiderman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', 'I') do not understand why? The tighter market, the less crude to carry, means lower risk of accident.

[Etalon]

Commercial vessels are notorious for very lax watch keeping. They tend to sit inside the bridge, relying on shipping lanes and radar to keep them safe. Shipwrecked sailors know the best ship to encounter is a military vessel, as they have good watch keeping. Your probably more likely to get run down by a commercial ship than rescued by it.

That said, a collision between two large ships? Both would show up on both ships radar.. how did they manage to do this? That really is some lax watch keeping.

[Fergus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joewp', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lighthouse', '4')500 tons. Ho many barrels are this?

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Etalon', 'C')ommercial vessels are notorious for very lax watch keeping. They tend to sit inside the bridge, relying on shipping lanes and radar to keep them safe.
Shipwrecked sailors know the best ship to encounter is a military vessel, as they have good watch keeping. Your probably more likely to get run down by a commercial ship than rescued by it.
That said, a collision between two large ships? Both would show up on both ships radar.. how did they manage to do this? That really is some lax watch keeping.

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ClassicSpiderman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', 'I') do not understand why? The tighter market, the less crude to carry, means lower risk of accident.

[nth]

Platts

Not only do we have a glut in refined-oil tanker per this article, but we are getting new shipyards ramping up production for the next few years.(see China and South Korea) We will not be restrained on oil tanker capacity at all, unless Iran starts sinking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nth', '[')url=http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/6308329.xml?sub=Oil&p=Oil/News&?undefined&undefined]Platts[/url] Not only do we have a glut in refined-oil tanker per this article, but we are getting new shipyards ramping up production for the next few years.(see China and South Korea) We will not be restrained on oil tanker capacity at all, unless Iran starts sinking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

[nth]

Tanada, Both perspectives are semi correct. The ones calling for shortage gave reasons that are correct, but they underestimated the number of ships being built and the number of orders submitted. They were expecting delays and lack of orders. Instead, shipyards work faster than anticipated and new yards ramped up. Ship owners also were ordering record number of ships. They also over estimated the demand of ships as they assumed Asia will suck up any lax in demand.

As for the glut side, they are telling you a future snapshot. It is difficult to gage how much future demand is required due to amount of oil and where they are from or ship to. Nevertheless, there were no shortage of oil tankers during the past few years and since oil production did not increase drastically, we will not have oil tanker shortages in the future either. But this is not to say that shipping fees will not rise as it is possible to hit tight demand/supply of ships.

[DantesPeak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nth', '[')url=http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/6308329.xml?sub=Oil&p=Oil/News&?undefined&undefined]Platts[/url] Not only do we have a glut in refined-oil tanker per this article, but we are getting new shipyards ramping up production for the next few years.(see China and South Korea) We will not be restrained on oil tanker capacity at all, unless Iran starts sinking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

[nth]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DantesPeak', 'O')n the other hand, keep in mind that oil exports, and the demand for tankers,will peak before total peak oil production peaks - as producers keep more oil for their growing populations.

[UncoveringTruths]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')EW YORK (AP) -- Stocks of companies that own and operate crude oil tankers finished lower Monday after rates for the vessels plunged more than 20 percent on supply concerns.

In a client note, Jefferies & Co. analyst Douglas J. Mavrinac said rates for crude oil tankers took a hit last week when OPEC said crude exports would not increase in August as expected, and maintenance in some Asian refineries lowered demand and led to a tanker surplus.

Mavrinac said tanker rates should remain weak until a possible rebound in fall or winter, when OPEC is expected to increase production to satisfy fourth-quarter demand.

[frankthetank]

Yup. They'll join the empty cruise ships and sit at anchor someday.

[eastbay]

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Oil tankers have an average lifetime of around 25 years meaning, one would presume, about 4% are taken out of service annually. The demand for huge tankers will remain for quite a few more years and someone has to build them.

[UncoveringTruths]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I') wouldn't worry too much about that. Oil tankers have an average lifetime of around 25 years meaning, one would presume, about 4% are taken out of service annually. The demand for huge tankers will remain for quite a few more years and someone has to build them.

[UncoveringTruths]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rontline fell 10 to 291 on renewed concerns about weakening charter rates, dealers said.

Traders in Oslo cited a report in today's Finansavisen newspaper pointing out that, despite strong crude prices, tanker rates have dropped steadily in recent weeks, with rates for VLCCs coming west from the Gulf now falling below 21,000 usd per day.

Analysts have frequently raised concerns about the impact excess capacity will have on charter rates as new vessels enter the market.