US-based trade services provider Cargill and Maersk Tankers announced a strategic partnership aimed to enable ships to improve flexibility and reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Under the agreement, Cargill will enter its Medium Range (MR) fleet into the existing Maersk Tankers MR pool, creating a new joint pool to increase the scope of their MR spot tanker business.
The new team, to be managed by Maersk Tankers with members of Cargill’s tankers team, will be located across Copenhagen, Singapore and Houston and will cover all daily commercial and operational tasks.
The joint pool aims to enable vessels to get exposure to the spot market, while focusing on fuel optimization and CO2 emissions reduction, as well as a digitalized approach to trading.
Maersk Tankers currently operates 44 vessels for 10 partners in its existing MR pool.
Cargill will add its fleet of up to 20 vessels, increasing the total number of vessels to more than 60.
Cargill’s vessels will enter the pool from 1 October 2019. The companies intend to attract additional vessels from other shipowners and further increase the pool’s capacity over time.
Sheding focus on environmental sustainability, Cargill announced earlier in 2019 that it managed to reduce its CO2 emissions from its chartered shipping fleet by 350,000 tonnes last year.
