11-12-07 South Korea’s worst oil spill may increase pressure on ship-owners to scrap single-hull supertankers or convert them into iron ore carriers, brokers said. The collision between a barge and the supertanker Hebei Spirit on December 7 saw 10,500 ton (78,750 barrels) of oil spill before the leak halted. Crude has spread along 9.5 miles of coastline 90 miles southwest of Seoul, hitting oyster, abalone and other ocean farms.
‘’The fallout from the spill could force stricter application of the banning of single-hull vessels from 2010 and result in a greater volume of tanker removals,’’ London-based shipbroker Simpson, Spence & Young said in a December 8 report.

Increased scrapping will push tanker rates higher as demand for oil surges, led by rising fuel consumption in China. United Nations rules require ships to have two layers of steel in their hulls by 2010. Single-hull tankers, those with just one layer of steel separating their cargo tanks from the sea, are more likely to spill oil in a collision or grounding.
South Korea mobilised thousands of coast guard personnel, volunteers and residents to clean up the spill that has blackened beaches and polluted seafood farms.

‘’For companies and countries still operating single hull tankers, there is now likely to be strong pressure from those in power to ensure a rapid switch to double hull tankers,’’ London-based E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers said in its December 7 report. The supply of double-hull supertankers won’t be enough to meet increased demand for ships with two layers of steel in their hulls, Gibson said.
More than half of the shipping fixtures in the Middle East- to-East spot charters in September to November involved single-hull tankers, according to the shipbroker.

South Korea was the largest discharge area for single-hull supertankers, also known as very large crude carriers, accounting for 24 % of the total volume this year, according to the research and consultancy arm of London-based shipbroker Simpson, Spence & Young.
China and India are tied in second place, each representing 14 % of total volume for single-hull very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, SSY Consultancy & Research said.