World Maritime News: Poten & Partners: Utilization of VLCCs for Storage on the Rise

11 May 2015: “More vessels are being used to store crude oil based on a recent report by Poten & Partners covering the last 4-6 weeks. ‘Surprisingly enough though, it appears that the utilization of VLCCs for floating storage has increased in recent weeks,’ the report added. Even though a significant number of the VLCCs anchored in the Arabian Gulf for the last several weeks were not storing crude but waiting to load at Basra oil terminal in Iraq, outside the Iraqi situation, more vessels are being utilized for floating storage. According to Poten, the vessel tracking information reveals that about a third of the vessels taken on time charter earlier in the year are now used for floating storage. ‘Most of them are stationed in the Arabian Gulf, while several others are anchored outside Singapore, in West Africa and the Mediterranean,’ the report further added.”