Tankers cannot discharge cargoes with Europe’s storage full to capacity
Nearly a million tonnes of refined products are parked in about 30 vessels off the continent’s coast
London — Dozens of tankers holding jet fuel and petrol are at anchor in sea lanes around Europe’s main storage hubs, unable to discharge their cargoes as onshore tanks are full to capacity after the collapse in demand linked to the coronavirus crisis.
Nearly a million tonnes of refined products are parked on about 30 tankers off Europe’s coast, Reuters calculations found. According to shipping data and trade sources, tankers have dropped anchor near to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub, and across parts of the Mediterranean, as their cargo owners struggle to find buyers or storage tanks. While some vessels are expected to dock soon, others could remain at sea for weeks because of a shortage of space left to be leased in onshore tanks, traders say...
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