Latest news with #VLCC
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
DHT Holdings, Inc. announces agreement to acquire a 2018 built VLCC
HAMILTON, BERMUDA, June 19, 2025 – DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) ('DHT' or the 'Company') today announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a VLCC built in 2018 at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), for $107 million. The vessel is scheduled to deliver towards the end of the third quarter of 2025. The acquisition will be financed through the Company's available liquidity and projected mortgage debt. The vessel was built to a high specification by its current owner and is fitted with an exhaust gas cleaning system. The acquisition will improve DHT's age profile and will further improve the DHT fleet's efficiency metrics. DHT's President & CEO, Svein Moxnes Harfjeld, comments: 'We are always looking for opportunities with the intent of improving earnings per share for our shareholders. This is a sister of vessels built by us in 2018, a design with large carrying capacity and premium earning capabilities, well suited for the trading patterns of our key customers. We believe this to be a fitting addition to our fleet, replacing some of the earnings capacity that has been divested this year, delivering into a market with attractive prospects.' About DHT Holdings, is an independent crude oil tanker company. Our fleet trades internationally and consists of crude oil tankers in the VLCC segment. We operate through our wholly owned management companies in Monaco, Norway, Singapore, and India. You may recognize us by our renowned business approach as an experienced organization with focus on first rate operations and customer service; our quality ships; our prudent capital structure that promotes staying power through the business cycles; our fleet employment with a combination of market exposure and fixed income contracts; our disciplined capital allocation strategy through cash dividends, investments in vessels, debt prepayments and share buybacks; and our transparent corporate structure maintaining a high level of integrity and corporate governance. For further information please visit Forward Looking StatementsThis press release contains certain forward-looking statements and information relating to the Company that are based on beliefs of the Company's management as well as assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs about future events. When used in this document, words such as 'believe,' 'intend,' 'anticipate,' 'estimate,' 'project,' 'forecast,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'will,' 'may,' 'should' and 'expect' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent the Company's estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release and are not intended to give any assurance as to future results. For a detailed discussion of the risk factors that might cause future results to differ, please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the SEC on March 20, 2025. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release might not occur, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Contact:Laila C. Halvorsen, CFOPhone: +1 441 295 1422 and +47 984 39 935 E-mail: lch@
New Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Oil tanker market signals more energy disruption ahead
While global energy markets are not yet pricing in worst-case scenarios for the Israel-Iran war, oil tanker rates are providing a good real-time gauge of the escalating risks. Geopolitical risk has spiked following Israel's surprise bombardment of the Islamic republic last Friday and Iran's retaliatory ballistic missile strikes, leading to a rally in global energy prices, with Brent crude rising eight per cent to roughly US$75 a barrel. But markets and investors now appear to be in a holding pattern as the conflict unfolds, with possible scenarios spanning everything from an imminent ceasefire and strengthened nuclear deal to a joint United States-Israel effort to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and potentially bring about regime change. For oil markets, the central risk remains the blocking or disruption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas consumption flows. Iranian strikes on energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates — both US allies — would represent another major escalation. Current oil prices suggest the market is still largely discounting such extreme scenarios, but trends in the oil tanker market show that oil shipping activity is being impacted even without direct action by Teheran. The benchmark daily rate for a "very large crude carrier" (VLCC) moving oil from the Middle East to China has risen by 40 per cent since June 13, reflecting the higher risk premium tanker owners are now charging to move through the strait. LSEG shipping market analysts anticipate further rate increases in the coming days. Tanker rates in other regions have also risen. For example, VLCC rates between West Africa and China have also jumped by over 40 per cent since Friday. This is partly due to an expectation that crude buyers will seek to secure supplies from regions outside the Middle East in order to reduce the risk of disruption to their refining or trading operations. In another sign of the conflict's indirect impact on shipping, Qatar's national energy company instructed liquefied natural gas and oil tankers to stay outside Hormuz and to enter the Gulf only the day before loading, Reuters reported. While no physical attacks have occurred in Hormuz, tensions in the Gulf were heightened on Tuesday after two oil tankers collided and caught fire near the Strait of Hormuz. One of the tankers, the Front Eagle, which was destined for China, was loaded with two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, according to monitoring service The exact cause of the collision, which resulted in no injuries or spills, is still unclear. But it coincided with a surge in electronic interference among commercial ship navigation systems in recent days around Hormuz and the wider Gulf. This electronic disruption was affecting vessels' ability to accurately transmit positional data via automated identification systems (AIS), which posed operational and navigational challenges for maritime traffic, said the US-led Joint Maritime Information Centre in an advisory. The source of the interference, known as jamming, was unclear. LSEG analysts said more than 260 vessels in the Gulf had their AIS positions corrupted at one point in recent days, as they appeared to be "sailing" on the land around the South Pars Central Power Plant in southern Iran. Similar incidents have been recorded in other parts of the world in the past. For example, signal disruptions affecting AIS and GPS signals rose sharply in the Baltic Sea following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The physical oil market, where real-world trade activity overlaps with political and military activity, can often help investors assess risk levels at moments of heightened geopolitical tension. Amid the current fog of war, the tanker market in the Middle East is flashing warning lights.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Oil tanker market signals more Middle East energy disruption ahead
While global energy markets are not yet pricing in worst-case scenarios for the Israel-Iran war, oil tanker rates are providing a good real-time gauge of the escalating risks. Geopolitical risk has spiked following Israel's surprise bombardment of the Islamic Republic last Friday and Iran's retaliatory ballistic missile strikes, leading to a rally in global energy prices, with Brent crude rising 8% to roughly $75 a barrel. But markets and investors now appear to be in a holding pattern as the conflict unfolds, with possible scenarios spanning everything from an imminent ceasefire and strengthened nuclear deal to a joint U.S.-Israel effort to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and potentially bring about regime change. For oil markets, the central risk remains the blocking or disruption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas consumption flows. Current oil prices suggest the market is still largely discounting such extreme scenarios, but trends in the oil tanker market show that oil shipping activity is being impacted even without direct action by Tehran. The benchmark daily rate for a 'very large crude carrier' (VLCC) moving oil from the Middle East to China has risen by 40% since June 13, reflecting the higher risk premium tanker owners are now charging to move through the strait. LSEG shipping market analysts anticipate further rate increases in the coming days. Tanker rates in other regions have also risen. For example, VLCC rates between West Africa and China have also jumped by over 40% since Friday. This is partly due to an expectation that crude buyers will seek to secure supplies from regions outside the Middle East in order to reduce the risk of disruption to their refining or trading operations. In another sign of the conflict's indirect impact on shipping, Qatar's national energy company instructed liquefied natural gas and oil tankers to stay outside Hormuz and to enter the Gulf only the day before loading, Reuters reported. SPOOFING While no physical attacks have occurred in Hormuz, tensions in the Gulf were heightened on Tuesday after two oil tankers collided and caught fire near the Strait of Hormuz. One of the tankers, the Front Eagle, which was destined for China, was loaded with 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, according to monitoring service The exact cause of the collision, which resulted in no injuries or spills, is still unclear. But it coincided with a surge in electronic interference among commercial ship navigation systems in recent days around Hormuz and the wider Gulf. This electronic disruption is affecting vessels' ability to accurately transmit positional data via automated identification systems (AIS), which poses operational and navigational challenges for maritime traffic, the U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center said in an advisory. The source of the interference, known as jamming, was unclear. LSEG analysts noted that more than 260 vessels in the Gulf had their AIS positions corrupted at one point in recent days, as they appeared to be 'sailing' on the land around the South Pars Central Power Plant in southern Iran. Similar incidents have been recorded in other parts of the world in the past. For example, signal disruptions affecting AIS and GPS signals rose sharply in the Baltic Sea following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The physical oil market, where real-world trade activity overlaps with political and military activity, can often help investors assess risk levels at moments of heightened geopolitical tension. Amid the current fog of war, the tanker market in the Middle East is flashing warning lights.
Business Recorder
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Middle East conflict slows tanker bookings, lifts rates
SINGAPORE: The costs of chartering tankers to move oil from the Middle East to Asia have climbed and ship bookings have slowed as the Israel-Iran conflict fuels worries of potential disruptions, industry sources told Reuters on Monday. The global benchmark rate for a very large crude carrier (VLCC) moving oil from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan, known as TD3, rose over 20% on Friday after the tensions broke out, according to LSEG data. On Monday, the MEG-Japan rate for crude held steady at about W55 on the Worldscale industry measure, according to a shipbroker. However, further gains in freight rates were limited as traders, shipbrokers and charterers take a wait-and-watch stance even as market participants said they did not expect the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping passage, to be shut. 'Fixing on Friday from the region all but came to a standstill. Physical marks may therefore not be indicative. Ships inside the gulf are still looking for outbound charters,' said Anoop Singh, global head of shipping research at Oil Brokerage. 'But the situation remains dynamic, and we expect to hear more on market open today,' said Singh. Oil prices volatile as Israel-Iran conflict ramps up 'We have noted a minor increase in freight rates so far, but expect them to rise further as the week progresses,' according to Sentosa Shipbrokers. Emril Jamil, senior analyst for crude and fuel oil at LSEG Oil Research, said freight rates will depend on any continued escalation and potential action by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz. About 18 million to 19 million barrels per day of oil and oil products flow through the waterway, which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. 'The war risk premium is expected to remain high in the near-term given the continued exchange of tensions between the two countries. This will exponentially rise if other Middle East oil and gas infrastructure are attacked,' said Jamil. He added that cargo insurance premiums could range from an additional $3 to $8 a barrel if there are further attacks. For clean products, freight rates to ship around 90,000 tons of either gasoline, diesel or jet fuel from the Middle East to markets west of the Suez Canal were at $3.3 million to $3.5 million late last week, before the conflict, according to estimates from three shipping sources, but new offer levels have yet to emerge. Some brokers are already giving market indications at $4.5 million levels, according to one Singapore-based trade source. Several shipowners are holding back offering vessels for routes in the Gulf until the situation becomes more clear, which may increase opportunities for voyages from the Far East to the west of Suez and from northwest India, Sentosa shipbrokers said in a note to clients.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Fire on waters: on India and maritime accidents
The Indian coast needs to be protected against three types of major peacetime maritime accidents involving merchant ships: sinking of merchant ships, causing the loss of cargo, disruption of maritime traffic, and environmental damage; fire onboard merchant vessels that can seriously threaten not just the environment but also life and property on the coast; and oil spills. The recent fire onboard MV Wan Hai 503, that started with explosions when the ship was some 44 nautical miles off the Azhikkal coast in Kannur, Kerala, on June 9, has been successfully controlled now. Photographs of the ship showed a cocktail of smoke of brown, white, grey and black colours billowing out, indicating that many substances were burning. The cargo manifest showed that more than 140 of the 1,754 containers had various types of hazardous cargo. Coast Guard officials report that the raging Wan Hai had started drifting dangerously towards the coast even as firefighting was on and the sea remained rough under monsoon conditions. A tow rope was passed onto the ship but it snapped. An Indian Navy helicopter flew in to airdrop a salvage team and pass a wire rope that was made of steel, which was then used to tow the ship 45 nautical miles away from the coast where the depth is nearly one kilometre. The owner of the vessel pitched in by commandeering tugs through their agents. Wan Hai does not pose an immediate danger to the Indian coast now. Smoke is still seen from the ship and there are hot spots, but it is now up to the ship owner to salvage the vessel after completely putting out the fire. Most of the patrol vessels, the workhorse of the Coast Guard, are now fitted with firefighting equipment since firefighting is a key mandate of the agency. While hazardous cargo on containers are indeed a major fire hazard, a more severe fire hazard is oil. Gas-carrying merchant ships are perhaps the greatest fire and explosion hazards. Nightmare scenarios that can bring the world to its knees involve gas carrier accidents at choke points such as the Suez Canal or the Strait of Malacca off Singapore. In 2020, the Indian Coast Guard and Navy successfully put out a massive fire that broke out off Colombo on the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), New Diamond, chartered by the Indian Oil Corporation. The VLCC was carrying 2,70,000 tonnes of crude oil and bound for Paradip in Odisha. That these ships were structurally intact despite week-long infernos is a testament as much to the maritime firefighting capabilities of India as the advanced design, materials and construction of the ships. Quick salvage of sunk ships and fighting oil spills, which require quick, extensive and close multi-agency coordination, are the other areas where India needs to build and demonstrate more expertise.
