Twenty VLCCs arriving at China’s key Qingdao port are forced to wait to discharge cargoes due to the lack of ullage at the port’s tank farms. Those vessels must wait for up to three weeks to unload, freight market sources said. Another 19 carriers are scheduled to arrive in the coming week, while the port is struggling with the buildup of stockpiles.
A shipping agency source said the waiting time depended on whether the cargo receiver had enough headspace at the tank farms. A carrier can receive a berth allocation in two days if the receiver has available storage space. The source also said that VLCCs chartered by private refiners had a longer waiting time compared to those chartered by state-owned companies.
The Sandra is still waiting for a berth to discharge crude for private refiner Shandong Luqing Petrochemical although it arrived at the port on May 13. The congestion is expected to worsen once the 19 carriers arrived on June 3-10, industry sources said.
