Last week saw another piece of history as the first direct loading of a VLCC took place at a US port. It is a tiny piece of good news for a sector that is mired in deep recession.
The Saudi-owned, 298,750-dwt Shaden (built 2017) is understood to be that first vessel. On a charter with Shell, it is now carrying oil to China after loading at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in the US Gulf, a facility that has been used only for crude imports in the past.
