International bitumen trading and supply company Rubis Asphalt is sending its 11,406dwt tanker Biskra to an Indian scrapyard after 33 years of service centred on the firm's west African operations.
The tanker, built in 1993, will call at Colombo, Sri Lanka, on its way to the yard. At the same time, Rubis is shipping a maiden cargo from Trafigura's Tanjung Langsat terminal in Malaysia to its west African hub at Lome, Togo, on board its 17,999dwt newbuild tanker Bitu Ocean. The vessel is one of three recently delivered newbuild tankers that will move bitumen from Asia-Pacific to west Africa. The two others were supplied to TotalEnergies' Geneva-based Totsa trading unit.
A fourth newbuild bitumen tanker, the 17,772dwt White Alba, was delivered in recent weeks to trading firm Gunvor. Market participants say the vessel is sailing to an African destination or destinations on its first voyage, with a possible first delivery into South Africa. The tanker appears to have loaded the cargo in late January at Mailiao, Taiwan.
Rubis runs a large bitumen tanker fleet with vessels of varying sizes, and operates bitumen terminals across west Africa, as well as in Antwerp, Belgium, and in South Africa. Market participants expect the company to use its 15,000dwt Bitu River for operations previously handled by the Biskra, namely supplying bitumen cargoes loaded in the Lome area into Nigerian firm Ringardas' Port Harcourt and Sapele terminals.
The Bitu Ocean is expected to have a flexible supply role in sub-Saharan Africa. Some regional market participants say the vessel will likely be used mainly for shipments into Durban and Cape Town, where Rubis has long-term agreements to use bitumen import terminals.
