Norway’s Frontline – one of the world’s biggest oil tanker owners, is “definitely considering” instructing its fleet to avoid the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal because of piracy, its acting chief executive officer said on Thursday.
“We haven’t done it yet. We are definitely considering it. It’s possible,” Martin Jensen told Reuters by telephone from Singapore.
“Of course, like many in the industry, we are instructing all our ships to call as close to Yemen and as far from Somalia as possible,” said Jensen, adding he was concerned that Somali pirates were attacking deep in international waters.
“We are still considering taking the big step — but haven’t done it yet,” he said.
Frontline is one of the world’s biggest independent tanker owners, ferrying much of the Middle East’s crude oil exports to world markets.
