Significant fleet excess in the Caspian Sea will keep on this winter - RESEARCH

Baku. 7 November. REPORT.AZ/ Currently, a record number of tankers were nvolved under the shipment of oil and oil products from the Caspian ports. Report informs, besides the traditional Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Turkmen shipowners that operate exclusively within the Caspian Sea, number of tankers with Russian flag has significantly increased in the region.

Before ending the river navigation Russian shipowners typically leave the Caspian Sea, preferring to operate in areas with less risk of downtime and lack of cargo. However, this year many Russian shipowners declared their intentions to leave the fleet in the Caspian Sea. Among them are "MRP-Tanker" (7 tankers), "MT-Group" (2 tankers), Group of companies "Palmali" (about 10 tankers), also other owners, such as VF Tanker and Prime Shipping, that are ready to compete with traditional companies in the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping company "Caspar" - more than 30 tankers of "KazMorTransFlot" - 8 tankers, Marine Trade Fleet of Turkmenistan - 6 tankers).

However, market analysis shows that despite the turnover growth in the Caspian Sea, crude oil and petroleum products will not be enough to provide work for entire fleet in winter. This will inevitably lead to a tightening competition and a drop in freight rates. Thus, market participants believe that tariffs for transportation of crude oil and petroleum products will drop to $7-8 on route of Turkmenistan ports- Baku, $9-10 on route of Turkmenistan ports - Makhachkala.