It is reported that after COSCO SHIPPING Tanker (Dalian) Co., Ltd. (“Dalian Tanker”) being added to the Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) List by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), a total of 14 Dalian ships (including 9 VLCCs) stopped sending location data from their automatic identification system (AIS). However, the relevant personnel of COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation Co., Ltd. (COSCO SHIPPING Energy), the parent company of Dalian Tanker, states that the ships of Dalian Tanker have never shut off AIS, all signal transmission remain normal, and the ship operation data is public, which is available at www.shipxy.com, HiFleet, weathernews and other third-party open sources.
HiFleet shows that it has never lost track of the ships of Dalian Tanker.
On 25 September 2019, Dalian Tanker was listed in SDNs by OFAC. On September 29, COSCO SHIPPING Energy issued an announcement stating that it is comprehensively organizing its various businesses, assessing the relevant impact, and conducting various response work. In order to reassure the public, three days later, on October 1, COSCO SHIPPING Energy published on its official website a list of its owned tankers and the situation of ships under Dalian Tanker.
In early October this year, tanker freight rate skyrocketed with Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) for VLCC on the Middle-East-to-China route exceeding $120,000/day. As of October 10, A shares of COSCO SHIPPING Energy closed at 6.5 yuan, up 7.44% from the previous trading day. While H shares closed at 3.51 yuan, up 8.67% from the previous trading day. In terms of peer companies, the recent share prices of China Merchants Energy Shipping, EURONAV and Frontline are continuing to climb.
Source: ACN Newswire
