Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority Awards Minerva New Bunkering Licenses
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has awarded Minerva Bunkering Pte Ltd (Minerva) a Craft Operator and Bunker Supplier license, the first granted since 2017.
As the largest bunkering market, Singapore represents a core addition to Minerva’s physical delivery network spanning more than 30 ports around the world. Serving customers with a supplier license significantly enhances Minerva’s operations in Singapore, a market where it has been active in cargo and bunker trading since 2014.
“We are excited to bring our physical supply model to the world’s largest bunkering hub. Leveraging our global integrated fuel supply chain and the substantial investment we have made in Singaporean flagged bunker tankers and storage capacity, we believe Minerva will positively contribute to the stability and growth of the Singapore market,” stated Minerva CEO Tyler Baron.
Minerva is pleased to play a role in the environmental evolution of the bunkering industry with a commitment to operate dual-fueled bunker tankers in Singapore. This is in alignment with the MPA’s leadership on initiatives to steadily reduce the environmental impact of the local bunkering fleet.Minerva Bunkering is an international marine fuel logistics company that markets and physically supplies fuels and lubricants to ships in port and at sea. The company procures product in bulk from diverse sources and delivers to over 600 customers across all major commercial shipping sectors including container ships, dry bulk carriers, cruise ships, tankers, and ferries.
Minerva Bunkering is a 100-percent-owned subsidiary of Mercuria Energy Group, one of the largest privately-held energy and commodities companies in the world.
M/T ‘Andronikos’ (IMO No: 9830812) released from arrest in Singapore
Capital Ship Management Corp. announced that the M/T Andronikos (ex ‘Anbar’) was promptly released from arrest in Singapore after the Owners’ P&I Club posted security and has resumed trading.
As previously disclosed, the M/T Andronikos, together with an additional five vessels, were redelivered after Al-Iraqia Shipping Services & Oil Trading (‘AISSOT’ or ‘Charterers’) gave notice of termination of the bareboat charters for those vessels on 22 February 2020 in what were then dire spot market conditions.
At the time AISSOT terminated the charter, the M/T Andronikos had approximately another six years duration remaining under that bareboat charterparty.
At the time of the termination, the charter rates published by established shipbrokers for a five year time charter, adjusted for bareboat business by excluding OPEX, were below the rate under the relevant charter party, demonstrating that at the time of redelivery AISSOT had suffered no damages, and they were instead hoping to make a gain by redelivering the vessels. However, in its evidence before the Singapore court, AISSOT presented rates which it described as a ‘Fearnleys Bareboat Charter Assessment’, which were not only misleading, but also transpired to be just informal email correspondence between an AISSOT executive and a Fearnleys AS shipbroker, and which were used in court proceedings without Fearnleys AS prior knowledge or authority.
The Owners of M/T ANDRONIKOS wish to advise that, having promptly obtained the release of the vessel, they shall now pursue appropriate sanctions against AISSOT and its relevant executives.
Owners choose to once again publicly inform the market of the above in order for market players to have a better understanding of the situation and leave it to the market to assess AISSOT’s performance and tactics.
Liberty Mutual Re opens new office in Singapore and appoints Annie Leong
LONDON – Liberty Mutual Re (LM Re), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, announced today the opening of a new office in Singapore and the appointment of Annie Leong as the Regional Underwriting Manager for LM Re in Asia Pacific.
Dieter Winkel, President of Liberty Mutual Re commented: “As LM Re continues to build out its global underwriting platform, we have taken the decision to establish a formal presence in Singapore to better serve and support our broker partners and clients across Asia Pacific and focus on developing emerging market opportunities across the region.”
“For many years, we have participated in this market as a treaty reinsurer of Property, Casualty and Specialty lines. The portfolio has been driven by the underwriting teams in our existing offices and platforms across the UK and Europe. This is the right time to establish ourselves locally in the region and I am looking forward to working with Annie who brings a wealth of experience in Property, Specialty and Casualty treaty reinsurance lines across Asia Pacific.”
Annie joins LM Re with immediate effect and will report locally into Matthew Jackson, Senior Vice President & Asia Leader and Peter Smith, Executive Underwriting Officer at Liberty Specialty Markets in London. Annie will focus on building the franchise locally and be central to Liberty’s Asia Pacific portfolio as a whole. LM Re will be operating with a full treaty reinsurance license as part of the LSM Asia Pacific office in Singapore and will have local underwriting authority.
Annie was previously at Aspen Re where she was a Senior Underwriter focusing on Specialty Lines for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to that she worked for Kiln in Singapore.