OPEC crude production reduced by 240,000 b/d in February to 30.68 million b/d, which is the lowest level in 4 years. According to Gibson Shipbrokers, February numbers indicate a significant over compliance, with Saudi Arabia leading efforts to implement cuts with a 153% compliance rate, some 170,000 b/d already below their overall target.
Antwerp is the fifth-largest bunkering port in the world. For this reason it aims to become a Multi-Fuel Port by 2025, meaning a port where in addition to conventional fuels, alternative, more sustainable fuels can also be made available. In the short term the Port has decided to include methanol, hydrogen gas and electrical energy in the bunkering market.
In its weekly report for 12-20 March, Fearnleys said that VLCC activity has been far disappointing, the market for Aframaxes trading in the North Sea and Baltic came off significantly, while for the Suezmax type, continued sparse activity in the West has allowed Charterers to pull rates even further down.
OPEC crude production fell by 240,000 b/d in February to 30.68 million b/d, its lowest level in 4 years, said Gibson Shipbrokers in its weekly tanker market report. The heavy crude market is already incredibly tight and production cuts come at a time when demand for heavy grades is rising, the report notes.
Oil & Gas UK published its ‘Business Outlook 2019’ which highlighted the fact that the UK will have to spend £200 billion in existing operations and new opportunities to add a generation of productive life to the UK North Sea basin.
ICS published the latest update of its Flag State Performance Table. In the report, ICS analyzes how the administrations performed, by providing an annual overview of the world’s ship registers against a number of criteria. The Flag State Performance Table presents the performance of individual flag states worldwide, and analyses the administrations’ performance based on a number of criteria.
ClassNK released a Technical Information aiming to inform that the Cook Islands Maritime Authority has issued a new circular regarding fire fighter’s communication. The circular touches upon the application of the fire fighter’s communication, its stored location, colour and standard criteria.
The American P&I Club informs of a change in the Pre-employment Medical Examination (PEME) Program. The change regards the psychology tests, which the American Club will no longer require to ensure compliance with PEME. The Club also requested all clinics to update their PEME price list given this change. A new price list will be posted in due course.
The US Inspections and Compliance Directorate published the Marine Safety Alert 02-19, ‘Not all navigation lights are created equal,’ to help all mariners understand the difference between navigation lights used on power driven vessels and those used on sailing vessels. The vertical divergence requirements for lights on vessels under sail are larger to accommodate greater heeling.
Analysis of AMSA’s Port State Control data indicated that there were 896 maintenance-related deficiencies issued in 2017 and 708 in 2018. This amount represents 13% of the overall deficiencies during 2017-18. A recent study which included 1026 seafarers, identified that over 20% of seafarers reported working more than 69 hours per week with unpredictable working hours.
