Move comes less than six weeks after oil giant carried out an internal audit and inspection
SHELL has stopped chartering tankers owned by Danish shipping company Torm, less than six weeks after the oil company carried out an internal audit and inspection that disclosed safety concerns about how the ships were managed.
The London-based oil giants shipping division was the top identified charterer in 2009 of Torms owned fleet of product tankers, with 14 fixtures recorded for 11 vessels.
But details of Shells management review, carried out on March 25 and sent to Torm management on 29 March, have been leaked to Danish press, which reported concerns related to crew training, certification and compliance.
The reports named Shell International Trading and Shipping ship quality assessor Vikash Panjiar as making a series of recommendations in relation to Torms crew training and security before tankers would be chartered again. Crew on board some ships were missing required certificates, which raised safety risks, the review concluded.
Shell declined to comment on the reports, saying it was a confidential matter, while a public holiday in Europe meant Torm management were not in the office on Monday to approach for comment. New chief executive Jacob Melgaard has previously declined to talk to Danish press about the matter, also citing confidentiality.
Shell has fixed just one Torm vessel this year on the spot market, the 2004-built product tanker, 36,986 dwt Torm Saone, which it hired on February 18, according to Clarkson Research Services. There have been 82 fixtures involving Torm tankers this year, including 17 for which charterers were not listed.
Of the 62 charters recorded forTorms owned fleet in 2009, Shell was the largest client, followed by Statoil with 11, Chevron with nine and Total with eight.
Torm has recently undergone major upheavals, with senior executives leaving last month to join a rival shipping company in Copenhagen and two Swedish owners removing their vessels from product tanker pools that Torm controlled.
Torms tanker division controls 130 product tankers with reliability, high quality and safety the cornerstones of our success, the companys website said.
Danish press highlighted Torms reduced number of Danish seafarers on ships over the last decade replaced by foreign crew, as one of the possible reasons why some of the concerns were raised.
Shell International Trading and Shipping is the worlds largest tanker charterer, with 444 clean fixtures reported in 2009. The head of shipping, Jan Kopernicki has previously said the oil company has a strong safety-driven culture, and vetting standards are the worlds highest.
Source:lloydslist