Signal Maritime, the Signal Group’s shipping arm, has taken commercial management of MT Silver London, the new Shell’s medium-range (MR) tanker, increasing the pool’s fleet size to 15.
The addition of the energy major’s tonnage as well as a cargo contract into a third-party pool is a first for Shell and a milestone for Signal. The deal was concluded in August this year following six months of discussions and detailed due diligence.
The company was an early adopter of the Signal Ocean platform in product tankers and the duo said they expect digital technology to help improve commercial results through the MR pool structure and other potential synergies.
Alongside trade performance, the digital platform is also allowing Shell and Signal to work on further reducing the partners’ environmental footprint and increase efficiencies in numerous workflows across the company.
Commercial ship manager Signal Maritime expanded its services by launching a new pool for MR product tankers in May 2021.
The move followed the success of its Aframax pool, which has been running since 2018 and consistently delivering good results, according to the firm.
“Having demonstrated success in our Aframax pool, we were now presented with the chance to take proven solutions and adapt them to the realities of the MR market. The bigger the pool, the greater the possibility of vessel triangulation and reduced ballast voyage legs resulting in an improved bottom line for both the shipowners and the environment,” Signal Group Chief Executive Ioannis Martinos said.
Today, companies controlling 60% of the world’s large tankers fleet and 47% of the corresponding crude cargoes are using Signal’s technology to boost freight trading performance.
The technology can be accessed by clients or partners via an intuitive user interface or embedded directly into proprietary systems via its APIs.-World Maritime News
