 We take great pride in the MOL tanker fleet — crude oil tankers (mainly VLCCs), petroleum product tankers, chemical product tankers, and LPG carriers — and its global leadership in all of these fields. As an expert in energy transport, we have developed a comprehensive safe operation system covering our entire lineup of vessels. With one of the world's largest tanker fleets, we can take advantage of business opportunities on a global scale. We were also the first shipping company to adopt double-hull tankers for our entire fleet in the interest of global environmental protection.
<Business Performance during FY2010>
In the tanker segment, although demand recovered, minus factors such as the ongoing deliveries of new vessels and the return of VLCCs used for crude oil storage purposes to the spot market led to a slump in the VLCC market from the summer. The product tanker market conditions continued to be sluggish overall as it was still being impacted by the large volume of new vessels in 2009. Under these conditions, the segment continued with various measures carried forward from the previous fiscal year such as reducing fuel costs by slow steaming and cutting ship costs. Despite these efforts, and dealing with the additional impact of soaring bunker prices from the end of 2010, the tanker segment posted a loss. |