Scott Shipping Intl Ltd

Singapore-flagged container ship APL ENGLAND at the Port of Brisbane anchorage following Sunday's incident involving the loss of about 40 containers overboard during heavy seas. It appears that the affected stacks contained a wide range of goods like household appliances, building materials and medical supplies.

Mauritius got its independence on 12th March 1968 and became a Republic in 1992. This year we will celebrate our 52nd anniversary of our nation's freedom. The 12th March is an important public holiday for Mauritians.

The official song "Dan Larmoni Lanatir" for the Independence Day of Mauritius 2020 was launched on Thursday 5 March 2020 by the Hon. Avinash Teeluck, Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage of Mauritius. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LkzzFdTTK0) Our Website: http://www.scottship.net

DEME GROUP BACKHOE DREDGER PINNOCHI COMPLETES LA REUNION CONTRACT, LEAVES ISLAND

The DEME Group backhoe dredger PINNOCHIO, which has been on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion on contract to a littoral coastal road, has completed the contract and departed Reunion on the back of a semi-submersible heavylift ship.

A statement attached to the photograph above issued by DEME said, “We performed dredging, gravel bed installation and backfilling works for the 5,400 metre offshore viaduct. ‘Pinocchio’ makes the journey back home on board of a semi-submersible ship.”

The Nouvelle Route du Littoral coastal highway which was carried out for the account of La Réunion, consists of preparation and foundation works for a d**e offshore the existing ‘Route du Littoral’ between the regional capital Saint-Denis and La Possession.

The route goes around a rocky coastal promontory or headland with parts built in the ocean itself. Rockfalls on the original coastal road (seen here) posed a danger to motorists.

According to DEME, a trench had to be dredged in which rocks were placed using a side stone-dumping vessel.

This is yet another example of the manner in which these specialist vessels are moved around the world in he performance of the contracts assigned to them, as well as the variety of ‘cargoes’ carried by the semi-submersible ships.

Refiners Across the Globe Increase Output of 2020-Compliant Ship Fuel

Global oil refiners have upgraded processing units and adjusted operations to raise output of low-sulfur residual fuels and marine gasoil (MGO) to prepare for stricter shipping fuel standards that kick in on Jan. 1, 2020.

The new International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules prohibit ships from using fuels containing more than 0.5% sulfur, compared with 3.5% through the end of December, unless they are equipped with exhaust-cleaning “scrubbers.”

The shipping industry consumes about 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of marine bunker fuels, and the rule changes will impact more than 50,000 merchant ships globally, opening a significant new market for fuel producers.

CHINA

The world’s largest refiner, Sinopec Corp , has started very low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) output at 10 refineries in China, including Zhenhai Refining and Chemicals Co, Jinling Petrochemical Co and Hainan Petrochemical Co.

The company plans total VLSFO capacity of 10 million tonnes a year (about 180,000 bpd) by 2020.

It also plans to build a fleet of 100 barges over the next three years to supply cleaner fuels to ships.

PetroChina has pledged 4 million tonnes of VLSFO in 2020, likely from its Jinzhou, Jinxi and Dalian refineries in China’s northeast, and Guangxi refinery in the south.

PetroChina Fuel Oil Co Ltd has a license to supply ship fuel in Zhoushan on China’s east coast. Total plans to supply marine fuel in Zhoushan in a joint venture with China’s Zhejiang Energy.

China Marine Bunker, known as Chimbusco, secured at least 4 million tonnes of VLSFO for the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first two quarters of 2020, and has started to supply all major Chinese ports from bonded storage.

NORTH ASIA

Top South Korean refiner SK Energy, a unit of SK Innovation , started supplying MGO from October. It can produce up to 27,000 bpd of marine gasoil, about 8% of its total gasoil output.

SK is also building a vacuum residue desulphurisation (VRDS) unit that can produce 40,000 bpd of LSFO* due online in March or April 2020.

Its affiliate SK Trading International has signed six-month contracts with some shippers to supply VLSFO from the fourth quarter.

Hyundai Oilbank has said it will sell VLSFO from November.

In Japan, Fuji Oil Co Ltd, Cosmo Energy Holdings Co Ltd and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd began shipping IMO-compliant fuels in October.

Idemitsu is shipping IMO-compliant fuel from five locations and plans another site from December, its spokesman said.

SINGAPORE/SOUTHEAST ASIA

In the world’s largest marine fuels market, Royal Dutch Shell loaded its first LSFO cargo from its Pulau Bukom refinery in September, and Singapore Refining Company (SRC), a joint venture of Chevron Corp and Singapore Petroleum Co , supplied its first VLSFO cargo in October.

Chevron said its VLSFO and MGO supply capacity in Asia could double in the next one to two years.

Elsewhere in Asia, Vitol is building a 30,000 bpd crude processing unit in Malaysia to supply LSFO starting in May 2020, and IRPC Pcl said it will produce 52,000 tonnes of VLSFO in November, making it Thailand’s first refinery to produce IMO-compliant fuel.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has started supplying IMO-compliant fuel in India.

MIDDLE EAST

Uniper Energy DMCC operates two crude processing units in Fujairah that annually produce 3.6 million tonnes of VLSFO, including 0.1% sulfur fuel used in regional Emission Control Areas.

Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Co (BPGIC) said it plans a 250,000-bpd refinery in Fujairah to produce low-sulfur fuel.

Qatar Petroleum said in October it has started supplying VLSFO at its ports.

EUROPE

Marine fuel supplier Peninsula Petroleum plans to double VLSFO deliveries to 600,000 tonnes by year-end in Europe and the Americas.

Gunvor Group will overhaul its refinery in Rotterdam in March to produce LSFO.

UNITED STATES

Most U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are able to process heavy crudes used to make IMO-compliant marine fuels, and have spent heavily this year refurbishing distillation units and cokers to process cheaper, heavy grades.

Motiva Enterprises overhauled its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, this year so it can produce compliant fuels. This month, PBF Energy, restarted a coker at its Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery that had been idled nine years.

Some U.S. refiners have also been importing high-sulfur fuel oil to turn into cleaner refined products for sale worldwide, as fuel oil hit a three-year seasonal low.

*LSFO stands for fuel oil with sulfur content of between 0.5% and 1.0%; VLSFO for fuel oil with a sulfur content of less than or equal to 0.5%; and ultra low-sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) for fuel oil with sulfur content of less than or equal to 0.1%. Refineries that lack the technology to product VLSFO outright, may produce LSFO and blend it down to IMO-compliant levels. See the table at for more information.

(1 tonne of fuel oil is about 6.31-6.9 barrels, depending on the fuel’s relative density)

Floating Storage of 2020-Compliant Fuel Builds Off Singapore

Stockpiles of low-sulphur marine fuels held in floating storage around the Singapore trading and pricing hub are steadily growing ahead of a 2020 global deadline for rules that have shaken the global oil refining and shipping industries.

A total of 32 ships, mostly supertankers capable of carrying 300,000 tonnes or more of oil, are currently anchored in Malaysian waters near Singapore accumulating stores of IMO-compliant fuels on board, according to data released by intelligence firm Kpler on Thursday.

Kpler estimates total fuel oil floating storage at 5.765 million tonnes and a total 4.455 million tonnes of compliant fuel oil in floating storage.

Other researchers say the total may be even higher.

Analysts at Refinitiv in Singapore said on Friday there were about 7.3-7.5 million tonnes of LSFO (low-sulphur fuel oil ) and related blendstocks in floating storage around the Singapore hub onboard 29 supertankers.

This is higher than the 7 million tonnes of LSFO volumes in floating storage Refinitiv analysts tracked at the beginning of the month.

A mandate by the International Maritime Organization requires ships globally to reduce the sulphur content in their bunker fuel to 0.5% from January from the current 3.5%, shaking up the global bunkering industry that consumes some 4 million barrels per day.

To comply, most ships are widely expected to switch to burning LSFO or to more expensive marine gasoil. Shipowners can also install costly exhaust gas cleaning kits called “scrubbers” that allows them to continue burning cheaper high-sulphur fuels.

To meet the growing demand for LSFO, traders and suppliers are building inventories of the fuel around Singapore which is by far the world’s largest bunkering hub.