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Additional tanker deliveries increases Iran’s export capacity

Oil&Gas Materials 27 November 2012 13:58 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 27 / Trend /

Additional shipping capacity in the form of new very large crude carriers (VLCCs) has enabled Iran to deliver more oil to its key buyers in Asian countries and given Tehran some relief from the US and EU sanctions noose, International Oil Daily reported with the reference to the industry sources.

According to the sources, one recent arrival is a 318,000 deadweight ton VLCC built by Chinese Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC). The ship is currently sailing under the new name of Rainbow,

Another VLCC, delivered by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) in late September, is now operating as the Carnation.A third Chinese-built ship, Dahlia, is now known as Skyline.

International Oil Daily mentioned that the three vessels are the first of 12 such units purpose-built for delivery of Iranian crude.

The sources said that the three VLCCs are carrying 6 million barrels of Iranian crude to Asia, while another three Chinese-built supertankers - currently dubbed Strong, Songbird and Sonata - are entering Iranian service.

The last of the dozen VLCCs, which have a total holding capacity of 24 million bbl of crude, is slated to arrive by end-2013.

The Rainbow is managed by National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), which is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, but the owner is a Hong Kong-registered outfit called Balm Shipping, whereas the Carnation and Skyline seem to be both owned and registered by NITC.

NITC is the biggest tanker company in the Middle East and 4th in the world. NITC has a capacity of 11 million tons per year.

The EU sanctions against Iran have prevented European insurers from dealing with Iranian tankers, and this has severely affected Iran's export, as without cover, its tanker cannot deliver oil. It has lost all of its European customers, and other international customers have drastically reduced their purchases.

An Iranian Protection and Indemnity (P&I) club has emerged and started to offer full cover and protection to the entire National Iran Tanker Company's (NITC) fleet of 44 ships.

Earlier the International Energy Agency reported that Iranian oil output rose by around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.7 million bpd in October. Iranian exports, according to the agency, increased to 1.3 million bpd from 1 million in the previous two months. The agency said that China and South Korea accounted for the lion's share of the increase in Iran's imports.

Edited by: A.Badalova

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