Ships have been forced to wait for almost two weeks or sail hundreds of extra miles to source fuel as shortages caused by the Middle East crisis have disrupted established energy supply routes, according to industry bosses.Semiramis Paliou, chief executive of Diana Shipping, one of the world’s largest listed dry bulk shipping companies, said it had deviated vessels from Japan to Korea at least twice in recent weeks to find fuel.
“Our charterers are not always able to find the quantities [of fuel] that they are looking for or at the ports that the ships would be sailing to,” she said.Her comments were echoed by Costas Delaportas, chief executive of DryDel Shipping, as industry leaders have warned of continued disruption even after Iran and the US clinched a peace deal that President Donald Trump said would secure a safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Athens-headquartered DryDel Shipping’s vessels were being made to wait between 10 and 12 days to refuel in Singapore or Fujairah — two major ports for the bunker fuel used to power ships — instead of two to three days, Delaportas said.