Aegean Sees Increasing Interest for RMK in Vancouver

Tzanakis noted Vancouver also benefits from cheaper barging rates

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. [NYSE: ANW] (Aegean) says it has witnessed an increasing level of interest in RMK bunkers in Vancouver, however there are still many shipowners who are unaware that the competitively priced product is readily available at the Canadian port, Regional Marketing Manager George Tzanakis has told Ship & Bunker.

"A lot of vessel owners who buy RMK buy it in Tacoma, but they should compare the whole North West RMK market as one," said Tzanakis.

In the case of RMK in the NW Americas market, Tzanakis explained that the product is produced by Imperial Oil in Canada, so is typically priced lower in Vancouver than at U.S. ports further down the coast.

"Vancouver also benefits from cheaper barging rates," he noted.

One reason buyers are missing out on potential savings by bunkering RMK in Canada is that some operators simply do not realize the 500 cSt product is so readily available at the West Coast port.

Price is one of the key reasons for the growing interest in the higher viscosity product, which in Vancouver is understood to be currently priced at a discount of around $10 per metric tonne (pmt) to RMG 380.

However bunker quality is also an important factor, and Tzanakis says that for the RMK bunkers in Vancouver it is extremely high, and actually much closer in specification to an RMG 380 cSt fuel.

"So buyers are paying for RMK, but getting the higher energy content associated with RMG," he said.

"RMK is really only starting to be pushed now, and it is getting more momentum.

"Maybe the timing is right for the product now, and all it takes is a motivated seller and a motivated shipowner."