Hafnia-Zambesi

Oil tanker BW Zambesi has started loading a cargo of condensate, or ultra-light oil, the first such export from the United States since the easing of a 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude exports, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, July 30. Westport Petroleum Inc, the Franklin, Tennessee-based shipping arm of Japanese trader Mitsui & Co, chartered the BW Zambesi, an LR1 tanker, also known as a Panamax class vessel, in mid-July for the voyage. The tanker, owned by BW Group docked at the Galveston terminal in Texas on Tuesday, July 29 It will load just over 400,000 barrels of condensate and is expected to arrive in Asia in early September, one source said. South Korean refiner GS Caltex has bought the cargo from Mitsui. Source : Reuters

The first condensate cargo for export is due to load in Texas at the end of this week, headed via the Panama Canal to Asia, shipping sources said. Westport Petroleum Inc., the Franklin, Tennessee-based shipping arm of Japanese trader Mitsui & Co., chartered the BW Zambesi, an LR1 tanker, also known as a Panamax class vessel. Reuters previously reported that Mitsui had bought a 400,000-barrel cargo, and is said to be being marketed to refiners in Asia. The $1.8 million one-way trans-Pacific trip is expected to take a month or more, sources said. The vessel is currently anchored outside of Galveston, Texas. It arrived in the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area on June 22, according to Reuters shiptracking data. Shipping industry sources said this was the first cargo of three purchased by Mitsui.