Europe’s Growing Fleet Of Floating Gasoline
Drone Photo Of A Product Tanker carrying Gasoline. Photo by Avigator Thailand, Shutterstock
Gasoline stored in ships off Europe’s coast has ballooned to more than 400,000 tonnes, putting pressure on the continent’s traders to compete for buyers once summer demand starts.
Several vessels have joined the three initially booked to store fuel off Europe’s ports in mid-March, and brokers said even barges have held cargoes of gasoline for three to four weeks as the volumes traded in Europe hit record levels last month.
The tankers Torm Tevere, Ridgebury John B and STI Clapham are now parked off Europe’s Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, where on-land stocks hit a record 1.387 million tonnes last week, according to figures from PJK International.
Fuel in vessels, rather than in tanks on land, is typically the most expensive way to store fuel, so notable volumes of floating storage only build when the market is oversupplied. Volumes off the coast of Europe have risen from just over 250,000 tonnes in mid-March....MORE
