CHEMICALS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF MODERN LIFE AND MOST INDUSTRIES DEPEND ON PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM CHEMICALS. OPERATING THROUGH OFFICES AT KEY LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD, ODFJELL IS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE CHEMICAL TANKER SEGMENT.

As a global, long-term operator, we operate a portfolio of ships and contracts, and always seek the best returns for our principals and customers, by optimizing spot/contract ratio, employing the right ship in the right trade, and ensuring that we at any time have an ideal presence relative to the main chemical trade lanes.

Odfjell Tankers carries several hundred different products every year; organic chemicals such as alcohols, acrylates and aromatics, inorganic chemicals such as sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and caustic soda, vegetable oils and animal fats as well as clean petroleum products and lubricating oils. Being present in all major trade lanes, we offer a unique and flexible service, allowing our customers to ship the smallest parcels of 100-150 tonnes up to vessels with as much as 50,000 tonnes of cargo.

CHARTERING AND OPERATION

At the end of 2015 our chemical tanker fleet consisted of 74 vessels, this including owned, time-chartered and vessels on bareboat charter. The deep-sea fleet, currently comprising 53 vessels, operated by Odfjell Tankers and headquartered in Bergen, is represented worldwide through overseas offices in 12 countries. Many of these offices are multipurpose, with commercial, operational as well as agency duties.

Our fleet consists of a variety of ship types in terms of size, tank configuration and coating, providing the flexibility required by our customers. Our fleet consists of three main categories: large stainless steel vessels with many segregations, our coated fleet and our regional fleet. Fleet composition, scheduling and vessel optimisation are critical success factors, as is our organisation’s pro-activeness and ability to offer safe, predictable and competitive logistics solutions. Flexibility and interchange ability of ships between  geographical areas and trade lanes are integral parts of our business model.

Odfjell Tankers’ ships trade worldwide, calling all major ports in Europe, US, the Asia/Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Our 14 state-of-the-art 37,500 dwt Kvaerner-built stainless steel chemical tankers and eight fully stainless steel 40,000 dwt chemical tankers built in Poland form the backbone of our fleet, and are among the most advanced and flexible ships in the market. In addition, we have added capacity and  flexibility by taking a number of vessels on medium to long-term time-charter.

Odfjell has been promoting high safety, quality and enhanced efficiency standards since the inception of the industry. We take a proactive approach towards international regulatory bodies and customers in order to enhance quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE), and demand similar commitment to QHSE from the owners of our time-chartered fleet.

Port congestion and excessive waiting time remain a concern for the chemical tanker industry, and port time still makes up a disproportionate part of many voyages. Owners are only partly compensated for such inefficiency through the collection of demurrage. To improve port efficiency and thereby also minimizing unnecessary emissions from ships, and potential accidents due to high density of marine traffic, infrastructure onshore must be further developed.

Through regional operations, Odfjell Tankers provides timely and safe transshipment and distribution services to and from ports with restricted draft or dock facilities. Consolidation of loading and discharging operations of our deep-sea ships is yet another important task performed by our regional operations. By reducing the number of port calls, and thus, the risk of delay, we are able to offer reliable and cost-efficient services to our customers.

Going forward we will continue our strong focus on operational improvements and quality of service. At the same time, top line improvement initiatives will be developed.

Odfjell (UK)
Odfjell’s UK office has commercial and operational responsibility for three 40,000 dwt vessels.

Odfjell Asia
Our Asian regional fleet is operated from our Singapore office. It mainly trades intra Asian trades, and in addition regular shipments from Asia to Australia and New Zealand.

Flumar
Flumar, our fully owned Brazilian shipping subsidiary operating out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, offers transportation of bulk liquid chemicals along the Brazilian coast and within the Mercosul area. The company currently operates four chemical tankers and one 51,000 dwt product tanker. Together, Odfjell and Flumar provide customers with superior service in this market. Furthermore, the extensive network of tank terminals in Brazil and Argentina, partially owned by related parties, adds value and benefits to our customers’ logistics requirements.

Odfjell y Vapores
The 50/50 joint venture Odfjell y Vapores operates out of Santiago, Chile, with two chemical tankers of approximately 16,000 dwt. The vessels are primarily engaged in the transportation of sulphuric acid along the Peruvian and Chilean coasts.

Freight rates 3,000 mts easy grade chemicals 
(USD/tonne)

Freight rates 1,000 mts stainless steel 
grade chemicals (USD/tonne)

Odfjell fleet distribution

The Core Chemical Tanker Deep-sea Fleet

We define a core chemical tanker as:

• Chemical tanker with at least 50% stainless steel capacity
• IMO II capacity, fully or at least centre tanks 
• Average tank size not more than 3,000 cbm and minimum six tanks
• Commecially controlled by core chemical operator
   

Source: Odfjell

Global GDP versus Base Chemical & Plastics
Production Growth Indices