Indonesia’s PIS issues spot Suezmax freight tender

Indonesia's Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) has issued a spot Suezmax vessel freight tender to move 1mn bl of crude oil for late-March loading.

PIS — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indonesian state-owned refiner Pertamina — is seeking a vessel loading from Girassol, Angola to two discharge ports in Indonesia's Balongan and Balikpapan, with 21-22 March loading dates. The tender will close at 6pm Singapore time (10am GMT) on 22 February with validity until 7.15pm.

The shipment can have a maximum unavoidable transportation loss of up to 0.07pc, according to the tender.

Suezmax shipment rates from west Africa towards India have fallen from this year's high. Argus-assessed lumpsum rates for 130,000t shipments from the west Africa region to the east coast of India fell to $4.5mn on 21 February, from $5.7mn on 10 January.

Suezmaxes especially are choosing to stay in the Mediterranean and northwest Europe after discharging in Europe instead of going to west Africa or the US Gulf, where high vessel supply and limited activity continue to weigh on rates.

By Sean Zhuang