Entre el aumento de costes de los combustibles y las nuevas normativas más rigorosas para la protección del medio ambiente (ya era hora, por otra parte...), los estudios que ha presentado en Oslo avalan la reducción de la velocidad en el transporte de crudo como ahorro y sostenibilidad, al igual que está sucediendo en el mercado de los portacontenedores.
Si es que lo del 110 en autovías tenía que tener efectos secundarios...
SLOW DOWN!
Teekay marine head Graham Westgarth thinks tanker market should follow trend-setting containership operators and reduce speed.
Teekay Marine head Graham Westgarth says it is time tanker owners followed the container industry and slowed down by at least two knots.
Speaking in Oslo ahead of the NorShipping exhibition, Westgarth, who is also chairman of tanker owners association Intertanko, said that slowing down would reduce emissions and boost earnings in the distressed tanker market.
He said: "At Teekay we took a look at what happened if you optimised speeds at 12 knots with the capability to move upwards rather than 14 knots and we saw it would bring huge benefits from the economic and environmental perspective.
"That is exactly what is happening in the container business where they are now designing ships at 18 knots with the capability to go up. I think the tanker industry could learn from them and when we order ships we should certainly think about it."
TradeWinds earlier reported that Maersk Line's latest generation of containerships had been ordered at Daewoo Shipbuilding with a slower operating speed of 19 knots, compared to 23 knots in the previous series, demonstrating the trend to lower speeds in the liner business.
Westgarth said that slow steaming had already saved rock bottom rates in the tanker market from falling further, demonstrating the potential benefits to the market.
"The tanker market is bad but it could have been much worse," he said on the impact of going slower. Westgarth pointed out that there are other factors that are making tanker journeys longer. Piracy he said had seen westbound tanker traffic having to divert east first and reroute around the Indian coast to avoid the danger areas.
He also pointed out that new environmental initiatives like Intertanko's "Virtual Arrival", which helps tankers to schedule voyages more efficiently, could also result in slower operating speeds.
However Westgarth conceded that one factor which could work against a general trend toward slower speeds in the tanker market is the fragmented ownership in the business. The top three tanker owners control less than 10% of the tonnage in the market.
Westgarth, who was speaking on the future of the tanker market, said he is concerned over the impact of oil prices on economic growth. "We have seen oil at $100 a barrel for some time, it is a real threat to global economic growth," he said.
Fuente: Tradewinds
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