Knightsbridge Shares Rise on Suez Crisis Fears
Shares of Bermuda-managed Knightsbridge Tankers Limited hit a new 52-week high today [Feb. 1] amid continuing concerns supertanker traffic could be disrupted in Egypt’s Suez Canal. The stock traded as high as $24.85 during mid-day trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock previously closed at $24.01.
Knightsbridge Tankers Limited is engaged in the international seaborne transportation of crude oil and dry bulk cargoes.
The business of the company is managed by ICB Shipping (Bermuda) Limited, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bermuda’s Frontline Ltd.
Its fleet consists of four double-hull Very Large Crude Carrier oil tankers (VLCCs), of which two Capesize dry bulk carriers were delivered to the Company in 2009. Each of its vessels is owned by a subsidiary and has been flagged in the Marshall Islands. In addition to the VLCCs, the Company charters two Capesize dry bulk carriers. Its total carrying capacity is 1.53 million deadweight tons.
With civil unrest mounting in Egypt, rumours on Friday that the Suez Canal had been shut sent shares in Frontline — the world’s biggest oil tanker operator — up 8.5 per cent. Traders were speculating that closure would drive global demand for tankers, because it would force ships carrying oil from the Middle East to take much longer routes to Europe and the US around the southern tip of Africa.
About 1.8 million barrels of oil per day go through the Suez Canal, according to analysts’ estimates.
