MOL links tanker business with Tokyo Marine

MOL links tanker business with Tokyo Marine MOL said it created a new organization with Tokyo Marine Co. Ltd. to address new opportunities in the tanker trade.
   “New organizations in both companies will team up to address new trends in the tanker business such as transport of ethanol, which is drawing considerable attention, and increasing seaborne trade of chemical products and vegetable oil, while proactively exploring new businesses,” MOL said.
   MOL said it operates tankers that transport crude oil, petroleum products and chemical products, especially methanol, and that most of its vessels are generally above 40,000-deadweight-ton in capacity.
   Tokyo Marine transports mainly parcel chemical products and vegetable oil using tankers of about 20,000 dwt.
   “New seaborne trade outside of these traditional categories has emerged in recent years. To meet this trend, the MOL Group is restructuring to more effectively meet customer needs, by utilizing both companies’ experience and know-how — MOL’s in methanol tankers and Tokyo Marine’s in chemical product and vegetable oil transport,” it explained.
   The companies believe trade will increase in biofuels such as ethanol and vegetable oils because of increased production in Southeast Asia in response to rising demand in Europe. They also note chemical trade is increasing and chemical tankers are getting larger “as oil refineries and chemical plants, which were conventionally located near consuming regions, are being built in oil producing countries, mainly in the Middle East.”