We still have exposure inside the strait, but what we have done is rent out our vessel without having our own crew on board, says Stena Bulk's CEO Erik Hånell.
He notes that there are still many sailors from other shipping companies who remain in the Strait of Hormuz and says there are good opportunities to get crews out of the affected area.
There are safe ports in the area that are no problem to go to. There are procedures in place for us to be able to handle this situation and change crews, and we were able to do that fairly quickly after the war started.
Secure entrance
On Tuesday, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association held a press conference where it reported that all ships with a connection to Norway that wanted to leave the Strait of Hormuz have now been able to do so. In addition, it is once again possible for Norwegian ships to take out insurance when entering the strait through Norske krigsforsikring for skib (DNK).
Erik Hånell says that the issue of re-entering the Strait of Hormuz with ships is not currently an issue for Stena Bulk.
So far we haven't had to consider it, it's just a matter of what deals are presented to us. We look at this day by day and even hour by hour, and then we make decisions as we go.
Changes quickly
He says that the direction right now is positive, but that experience from recent months has shown that it can change quickly.
Now we are keeping our fingers crossed that this continues in the right direction so that shipping starts up in a similar way to what we had before the war started, says Erik Hånell.
Before the Iran War broke out on February 28, Stena Bulk normally had up to twelve to thirteen of its 60 tankers in the Persian Gulf.
In addition to crude oil, Stena Bulk's vessels carry gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and chemicals.
