Hafnia LR1 with Cepsa's naphtha catches fire after collision in South China Sea

Singapore's shipping conglomerate BW Group has a stake in Hafnia, which operates the world's largest fleet of LR1 tankers. Hafnia got listed on the New York Stock Exchange just over three months ago and continues to trade on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It operates more than 100 tankers.

The Hafnia Nile was carrying naphtha from Europe to the Far East with an option to discharge in Japan, several brokers told Commodity Insights.

Cepsa said that the affected tanker was carrying naphtha loaded from its energy park in Huelva, Spain. Cepsa’s Madrid-based spokesperson declined to divulge the original destination of the naphtha-laden tanker and said the company does not have "any information on the state of the cargo for the time being."

The other tanker on fire was the 2001-built VLCC Ceres I that typically undertakes back-to-back voyages carrying crude after ship-to-ship transfers from the Singapore-Malaysia vicinity, or outer port limits to China in recently, said trade sources tracking such developments.

As of now, there has been no environmental impact, but Hafnia will address any potential damage resulting from this incident, it said, adding that the company has mobilized its salvor to assist in the rescue efforts.

Hafnia is also coordinating with the Singapore Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in the rescue efforts, with Singapore authorities deploying a helicopter and naval ship to provide assistance, it said.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore was alerted to a fire onboard both the tankers at about 6:15 am Singapore time, about 55 kilometers northeast of Pedra Branca within Singapore’s maritime search and rescue region, the MPA said in a statement.

The MPA has requested passing vessels to assist in search and rescue of the crew, it said in its statement.

A total of 22 crew were on onboard the Hafnia Nile, while 40 crew were onboard the Ceres I, and all of them have been accounted for, the MPA said.

Salvage and fire-fighting assets have also been arranged by the tankers’ owners to support the rescue efforts and their subsequent towage to safety, the MPA said, adding that navigational traffic has not been affected.