Unipec remains largest spot charterer of crude tankers in H1 2016

According to brokers Poten in its half-year round-up the top seven charterers of dirty tankers in the first half of 2016 remained identical to 2015 as a whole.

Unipec remained the largest with 13.8% of all spot cargoes moved by tonnage, or 88.35m dwt. This was slightly higher than its percentage for 2015, which stood at 13.4%.

Unipec was by far the biggest spot charterer of dirty tanker tonnage in the first half of 2016, with second placed Shell having a just a 4.9% share in terms of total cargoes shipped. Shell was followed by Vitol, IOC and ExxonMobil in third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Looking at the VLCC segment Unipec was the dominant charterer with 258 fixtures, equivalent to the volume of the next five largest – IOC, Reliance, Bahri, Petrochina and Shell combined.

“Bahri remains a significant player in the VLCC market and its listing as No. 4 in the ranking of reported spot market fixtures is not a correct reflection of their real influence in the large vessel segment,” Poten noted.

While Unipec is the largest charterer of spot VLCCs in the suezmax it is third behind Chevron and Repsol, while for aframaxes it is fifth with Vitol heading the table with over 200 spot charters.