SINGAPORE: traffic jam of nearly 30 large oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra due to loading delays, with some waiting up to three weeks and costing ship operators around $75,000 a day per vessel. Shippers and port sources said more delays are expected throughout April as the city’s facilities struggle to cope with Iraq’s soaring crude output.
The problems at Basra, coupled with continuing storage tank shortages in China, have pushed supertanker rates from the Middle East to Asia to unseasonal highs as the delays disrupt future sailing schedules and charterers cover future tonnage requirements.
“The VLCC (very large crude carrier) market is being sustained by a whole pattern of delays and congestion, affecting ports in Basra,” said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at ship broker Banchero Costa in Singapore, adding that there were further delays in China and South Korea. There are 27 VLCCs and suexmax tankers with a combined capacity of 43 million barrels, waiting off Basra, shipping data on the Reuters Eikon terminal showed, about twice the norm.
The delays are likely to continue throughout April and could only ease in May, said Omar Al Jarah, a surveyor at maritime consultancy Alwan Marine in Sharjah, as the port struggles with the country’s rising crude output. Iraq exported an average of 3.26 barrels of oil per day (bpd) through its southern terminals in March, up from 3.22 million bpd the previous month and just 2.5 million bpd in 2010. Port officials were not immediately available for comment.
