Anuj Velankar, the Director of Commercial Maritime at International SOS, has outlined three “key” oil and gas related maritime trends to watch out for in the remainder of 2023.
“Shipping freight rates will remain high,” Velankar told Rigzone.
“With Russia turning off gas pipes, the number of ships needed to facilitate the movement, predominantly of crude oil (to countries that haven’t imposed sanctions) has increased,” he added.
“This demand will continue to remain high, inflating freight rates,” he continued.
The International SOS Director also noted that vessel prices will remain high “due to a shift towards dual fueled and energy efficient ships”.
“Many of the established shipping companies are moving towards more carbon efficient LPG tankers to meet sustainability goals,” he said.
“Their secondhand ships are being bought by newer companies to facilitate the movement of goods, as mentioned above. Due to this demand, prices for vessels will continue to remain high,” he added.
Finally, Velankar flagged “topics of concern/uncertainty”.
“Topics like the Russia-Ukraine conflict and decarbonization will continue to impact oil and gas trends across the maritime industry,” he said.
“Due to this, shipowners need to protect themselves from any operational disruption wherever they can, whether that’s continuing to recruit and retain seafarers or implementing strategies to ensure good health onboard and maintain a positive, productive crew,” he added.
International SOS describes itself as a pioneer and leader in international health and security risk management. The organization, which was founded in 1985, is headquartered in London and Singapore and has over 1,200 locations in 90 countries, its website shows.
Back in February this year, International SOS contributed to a Rigzone article looking at the safest offshore region for oil and gas in the world.
IMO Adopts Revised Strategy
In a statement posted on its website earlier this month, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced that it had adopted a revised strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping.
The revised IMO GHG strategy includes an enhanced common ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping close to 2050, a commitment to ensure an uptake of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels by 2030, as well as indicative checkpoints for 2030 and 2040, the IMO said in the statement.
“The adoption of the 2023 IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy is a monumental development for IMO and opens a new chapter towards maritime decarbonization,” IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said in an organization statement.
“At the same time, it is not the end goal, it is in many ways a starting point for the work that needs to intensify even more over the years and decades ahead of us. However, with the revised strategy that you have now agreed on, we have a clear direction, a common vision, and ambitious targets to guide us to deliver what the world expects from us,” Lim added in the statement.
“Above all, it is particularly meaningful, to have unanimous support from all member states. In this regard, I believe that we have to pay more attention to support developing countries, in particular SIDS and LDCs, so that no one is left behind,” he continued.
Last month, the IMO welcomed the adoption of a “landmark agreement on a new oceans treaty to protect marine biodiversity on the high seas” and back in March, the organization announced that it, Norway, and Singapore had signed a memorandum of understanding on maritime decarbonization.
The IMO is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for developing global standards for shipping and supporting countries to implement those rules, the organization noted in its July statement.
The group currently has 175 Member States and three associate members, according to its website, which highlights that there are 66 intergovernmental organizations which have observer status with the IMO and 88 international non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the IMO.
