THE Philippines maritime regulator has extended the deadline to ban single-hull oil tankers from its waters to April 30 from April 1 to give charterers more time to switch to vessels fitted with two hulls.

The Maritime Industry Authority has issued a circular prohibiting single-hull ships from calling at Philippine ports from April 30, Transportation Undersecretary Len Bautista said in a mobile-phone message last week. In January Bautista said single-hull vessels carrying crude oil and marine fuel won’t be allowed to dock at ports from April 1, two years earlier than planned.

The extension came after “some operators asked for an allowance,’’ Bautista said. “It’s also to allow oil companies to have better rates in negotiating vessels,’’ Bautista said, adding the extension still falls within the directive of President Gloria Arroyo to ban the one-hull tankers by April.

The Philippines decided to ban single-hull tankers after the worst oil spill in the country’s history and a separate leak in South Korea. Asia is the biggest market for single-hull super tankers, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. said in a December report.

The single-hull crude oil super tanker Hebei Spirit caused the worst spill in South Korea’s history last December after it was struck by a crane. In August 2006, the tanker Solar 1 leaked 2.19 million liters of marine fuel, killing marine life and fouling the coastline of the Philippines’ Guimaras islands.

The Philippines has yet to schedule a ban on single-hull tankers that ship gasoline, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products, Bautista said.

At least one single-hull tanker will be heading to the Philippines. Petron Corp. has chartered the tanker Front Lady to move 260,000 tons of fuel on March 24 from Yanbu to Bataan, in northern Philippines, at the rate of 98 Worldscale points, according to New Delhi-based Interocean Group in its March 6 report.

Front Lady was built in 1991 by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., according to Bloomberg data. Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for more than 320,000 specific routes. Flat rates for every voyage, quoted in US dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates. Petron is jointly owned by the Philippine government and Saudi Aramco. (Bloomberg)

Government extends deadline for single-hull tankers

THE Philippines maritime regulator has extended the deadline to ban single-hull oil tankers from its waters to April 30 from April 1 to give charterers more time to switch to vessels fitted with two hulls.

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