MUSCAT, AUG 4 - A new commercial chartering desk set up by Oman Shipping Company (OSC) has secured more than 100 fixtures with world leading oil majors in its first twelve months of operation. The spot chartering desk set up in May 2017 offers Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCCs) to major traders and charterers transporting crude and fuel oil worldwide. OSC General Manager Commercial, Tankers & Gas Debasish Mohapatra said the desk has concluded more than 110 fixtures with a total of 24 charterers and involving more than 15 brokerage companies.
Key new contracts have been secured with oil majors including Reliance, Essar, BP, GS Caltex, S-Oil, Indian Oil, Hyundai Glovis and Kuwait Petroleum, and traders such as Trafigura, ST Shipping, OTI and Socar. OSC is ranked 13th in the world order of VLCC owners with 15 vessels managed commercially through subsidiary Oman Charter Company (OCC). Mohapatra said OSC’s decision to set up the chartering desk followed a move to withdraw its entire VLCC fleet from the VL8 pool based in Singapore, back in December 2016.
“We are highly satisfied with the progress of our new commercial chartering desk now in its second year of operation,” he said. “In March 2017 we took full commercial control of our VLCC which was previously outsourced in a joint venture. As part of our new strategy we signed a Contract of Affreightment with Shell International Eastern Trading Company, a Shell subsidiary, for a period of three years. This gave us a substantial cargo base for the entire fleet to kickstart the operation.
“However, we have continued to drive momentum and experienced substantial growth in the last 12 months. We now cater to a broad portfolio of oil majors and crude traders in the world. Around 65pc of our VLCC fleet is dedicated to delivering on the Shell account with the remaining 35pc is employed by other major crude players.”
Mohapatra said the VLCC vessels are technically managed by Oman Ship Management Company, based in the same office as OCC, which enables the company to operate a fast, efficient and coordinated operation for clients.
“OCC has built a strong and dedicated VLCC chartering team backed by experienced master mariners which look after commercial operations from Muscat,” he said. “The new chartering desk began with a firm foundation and continues to benefit greatly from the knowledge, resource, market intelligence and complimentary services at its disposal within the broader OSC network.
“We believe this has been key to our success, and while OSC is highly competent with office-based service delivery, our vessels also offer great value to charterers. We have a relatively young fleet with high specifications, good safety records and low fuel consumption.”
Oman Shipping Company (OSC) is owned by the Government of Sultanate of Oman through Asyad Group and Oman Oil Company SAOC. OSC is the parent company, which is the investment arm, while Oman Charter Company SAOC (OCC) undertakes chartering and broking activities, Oman Ship Management Company SAOC (OSMC) looks after in-house ship management activities and Oman Container Lines (OCL) Inc undertakes container-related activities. All the three companies are fully-owned subsidiaries of OSC.
OSC was launched with the acquisition of six LNG vessels, which were employed to transport Omani LNG to the world markets in partnership with Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL). The company has since diversified into Crude Oil, Chemicals and Products, Dry Bulk, LPG and also Container and General Cargo market segments.
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