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Supertankers May Halt Oil Trading, Frontline Says
Saturday, 05 September 2009 Supertanker owners may start refusing cargoes within the next three months unless rates return to a profitable level, said Frontline Ltd., the biggest operator of the ships which carry almost half the world’s oil. Ship owners are contributing $942 a day toward fuel costs to ship Middle East crude, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. Rates have been below operating costs since July. Should the losses persist, some owners may choose to idle their ships, according to Jens Martin Jensen, Singapore-based chief executive officer of Frontline’s management unit.

“If you see another quarter, then I think owners have to do something,” Jensen said by phone today. “We are subsidizing oil companies.”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has cut output by 4 percent this year to 28.4 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg estimates. Over the same period, the fleet of in-service supertankers has advanced 5.8 percent to 528 ships, according to Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay data on Bloomberg.

The five-member Bloomberg Tanker Index, led by Frontline, dropped 19 percent this year, extending last year’s record 49 percent slump. Frontline rose 3 kroner, or 2.3 percent, to 132.50 kroner in Oslo, valuing the company at 10.3 billion kroner ($1.7 billion).

Returns for Owners
Rental rates on the industry benchmark Saudi Arabia to Japan route climbed 0.6 percent to 30.69 Worldscale points today, their first advance in 11 sessions, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.

Returns for owners on eastern and western routes from the Middle East reached this year’s peak of $64,146 a day in January. The vessels need $11,603 a day to pay insurance, crew, repairs and other running costs, according to London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd.

Frontline said its largest carriers needed to earn an average of $31,900 a day to break even in the second quarter, once finance costs were taken into account. They made an average of $38,400, including vessels on longer-term rentals.

The slump is triggering an acceleration in the demolition of aging carriers, according to Cumberland, Maryland-based Global Marketing Systems Inc., the world’s largest cash buyer of obsolete vessels. The number of supertankers sold for scrap may reach a six-year high, the company estimates.

The drop in rental rates prompted A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, Denmark’s biggest crude carrier, to seek revisions to orders for new tankers, Kristian Morch, chief operating officer of the company’s oil-shipping unit, said by phone today. The company sold $1.58 billion of stock this week to fund acquisitions in the oil and terminals businesses.
Supertanker Owner

Euronav NV, Belgium’s biggest owner of supertankers, plans to raise as much as $200 million to fund acquisitions of vessels and diversify its financing, the company said today.

Frontline is sailing its carriers more slowly to conserve fuel, Jensen said. Frontline is sometimes “waiting days” for profitable cargoes, he said.

Jensen declined to say whether Frontline would idle its own tankers. Doing so would make the vessels less attractive to hire when they return to service because they lose safety approvals from oil companies, he said.

A “handful” of independent owners have already started to reject cargoes because rates are too low, London-based EA Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd., said in a report today.

“If more owners refuse to play, then eventually some upward re-adjustment will develop,” Gibson said.
Jensen denied an earlier report that Frontline may remove a vessel from the market next week.

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/...3611&Itemid=93

Here is a medical one. You should be giving this some thought also. Stocking up some over the counter meds now may save a loved one later. This will fall under the category of cheap insurance. In or during times of troubles.

What OTC Medical Preps Do You Consider Vital?

After 8 kids raised in relatively normal times, you will want plenty. These are from my own inventory and arranged in alphabetical order not by priority. Most of the pain meds will be for the adults who will learn what is really meant by hand labor the hard way from our protesting muscles and joints. Also, we will be spending much more time out side exposed to bugs, the elements and minor injuries; sanitation, bathing and cloth washing will likely be less than ideal. Our skin will take a beating. Expect tummy troubles from different foods, any unfully treated water, tension and anxiety. I have gotten everything without a prescription (though some is veterinary) 230gr:

anesthetic topical anesthetic topical
Antacid Antacid Tablets Chewable
Antibiotic amaxicillin 250
Antibiotic Ampicillin 250
Antibiotic antibiotic triple ointment
Antibiotic cephalexin
Antibiotic erythromycin
Antibiotic Fish Pen (penicillin) 250 mg
Antibiotic penicillin VK
Antibiotic tetracycline
anti-fungus anti-fungus, lotrimin cream
anti-fungus anti-fungus, Tolnaftate
anti-fungus Nystatin cream
Antihistamine Antihistamine (Loratadine)
Antihistamine Benadryl (diphenhydramine)
ANTI-NAUSEA & sleep dimenhydrinate
ANTI-NAUSEA & sleep meclizine
antiseptic topical Betadine (povidone-iodine)
anti-tussave cough suppresent (trisaminic)
anti-tussave cold syrup (equae day)
Blood stopper BleedX
Burns anesthetic burn ointment (Unguentine)
Burns burn ointment (Tannic)
burns, infected Nitrofurazone
chapped lips Chap stick
Cold Capsules Cold Capsules
cooling, injury Cold Pack, instant
decongestant, nasal & sinus Pseudoephedrine+Triprolidine
Diarrhea kaopectate
diarrhea Loperamide HCI (Imodium A-D)
diarrhea indigestion gastro bismuth-Bismuth subsalicylate
drawing salve, inflammatory, bactericidal and fungicidal ichthammol
emetic, vomit poison ipecac syrup
Expectorant guaifenesin powder
expectorant anti-tussave cough suppressant (tussin DM)
eyes, irritated eye wash (opti clear2)
feaver blisters chapped lips Chap salve (carmex)
filling, temporary temporary filling kit
Hemaroids anesthetic rectical ointment
infection, otic canal, outer neomycin / polymyxin B & hydrocrotisone otic
inflammation topical hydrocortisone cream
insect bites & windburn Boric Acid ointment
Itching anti-itch cream
laxative Laxative (bisacodyl)
laxative, bronchodilator, aches Epsom Salts
moisturizer & topical lubricant Petroleum Jelly
pain & fever Acetaminophen
pain & fever Aleve (Naproxen Sodium)
pain & fever Aspirin
pain & fever (enteric coated) Aspirin (Ecotrin)
pain moderate Acetaminophen & codeine
pain, anti-Inflammatory & fever Ibupropfen (Advil)
pain, migraine Acetaminophen+ Aspirin+ Caffeine
pain, muscle & joint, cough Mineral Ice
pain, muscle joint Percogesic (phenyltoloxamine)
PMS acetominaphen-panabrom+pyilamine
poisoning Charcoal (activated)
radiation, Thyroid Blocking Potassium Iodide
skin irritation Zinc Oxide Ointment
Smelling salts Smelling salts
Stimulant Caffeine
Sun Block Ultra 15 Sunblock
tooth repair kit eugenol, cotton swab, mixed Filling puddy
tooth cleaning floss, dental
wash, animal bite benzalkonium

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