Maersk Rosyth completes 1,000 voyages on time charter with an ExxonMobil marine affiliate

Rotterdam to Port Jerome and back: A voyage Maersk Rosyth has done 1,000 times over the past 15 years, as part of a time charter agreement between an ExxonMobil affiliate and Maersk Tankers.

A time charter agreement commenced in 1999 and since then, four Maersk Tankers vessels have been part of various agreements in total. Maersk Rosyth, the 34,810 DWT Handysize product tanker, began operations in 2003 under the time charter. Today, the vessel is the single largest cargo transporter for the Port of Rouen, carrying approximately 120,000 metric tonnes a month. While under time charter, Maersk Tankers carried over 25 million metric tonnes in total.

“While it is not unusual for a vessel to do 1,000 voyages, it is rare that a vessel does 1,000 voyages on time charter with one customer,” says Claus Gronborg, Chief Commercial Officer at Maersk Tankers. Gronborg explains that the company usually time charters out vessels for shorter periods of time. “The fact that we have renewed the time charter repeatedly speaks to the reliability of the vessel and our long-term relationship with our customer.”

A tailor-made vessel for a unique trade

After commencement of the time charter, Maersk Tankers tailor-made the Handysize vessel to optimally suit its unique trade.

A Handysize vessel was needed to transport one type of cargo from Rotterdam to Port Jerome and then load another type of cargo at Port Jerome to be discharged in Rotterdam. To optimally facilitate this double-cargo operation, Maersk Rosyth was equipped with designated cargo tanks for both cargo grades. The cargo lines were modified to completely segregate the two grades. Further, manifolds were arranged to fit the position of both the loading arm in Rotterdam and in Port Jerome. “The technical, tailor-made solutions have enabled us to do a trade with very specific requirements, optimising our utilisation of the vessel’s capacity,” says Michael Schelfhout, Chartering Negotiator at ExxonMobil. 

Currently, Maersk Rosyth continues to be on time charter with an ExxonMobil marine affiliate.