Tanker accident causes oil spill off China

The Suezmax A Symphony has been involved in an accident off China that has resulted in an oil spill, China's Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) said today.

The incident occurred near Qingdao port in Shandong province. Vessels should not pass within 10 nautical miles of the ship, the MSA's Qingdao branch said. The A Symphony was due to discharge around 1mn bl of crude in Qingdao today, according to data from Vortexa. The Liberia-flagged vessel is owned by Greek shipowner NGM Energy, shipping records show. Details of the charterer are unavailable.

Qingdao is one of China's busiest oil ports, serving the independent refining sector in Shandong. There appears to be no impact on vessel arrival schedules at Qingdao as a result of the incident, an official at a local shipping agency in Qingdao said. The vessel was carrying Venezuelan Merey crude and was due to discharge at Huangdao port in Qingdao, market participants said, although this could not be confirmed.

US sanctions on Venezuela have choked off the country's crude exports, although supplies of bitumen-rich Merey continue to make their way to China. Official Chinese customs data show no arrivals of Venezuelan crude for the last 18 months, but market participants say sanctioned crude is arriving in China after undergoing ship-to-ship transfers in southeast Asia. Vortexa data indicate the A Symphony loaded its cargo in Malaysia in early April.