Bloomberg: Crude Oil-Tanker Spot Bookings Seen 5% Higher in 2012

“Spot, or single-voyage, bookings for crude oil-tankers increased by 5 percent in 2012 compared with the previous year, according to Poten & Partners Inc., a New York-based consulting firm and shipbroker.  The number of Suezmax tankers hired over the same period gained more than 10 percent, spurred by an increase in loadings from the Caribbean and Persian Gulf, Poten said in an e-mailed report Jan. 4. Each Suezmax tanker is able to haul 1 million barrels of crude. Spot fixtures of the largest crude carriers, able to carry twice as much as Suezmaxes, increased by 5 percent last year, Poten said. Bookings of Aframaxes and Panamaxes, smaller than Suezmax tankers, each increased about 3 percent from 2011, Poten said.  China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co., known as Unipec, booked the most crude tankers last year, with 707 fixtures reported, compared with Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s 701 fixtures, Poten said. Shell was the top hirer in 2011.”