Revealed: 50 oil tankers loitering off British coast as they lie in wait for fuel price hikes

[The Sushi Bandit]

Source: Daily Mail

More than 50 oil tankers are anchored off Britain - pieces in a game in which the only winners are market speculators.
The losers are the millions of British motorists paying over the odds for their petrol and diesel.
After yesterday's report in the Daily Mail on how several so-called 'oil shark' tankers were moored near the Devon coast, dozens more vessels were revealed to be loitering off-shore.

Some are carrying aircraft fuel or fuel for homes. Others are empty, waiting to be restocked before setting off around the globe.
But according to industry experts, a significant number are 'oil sharks' - tankers that have been cynically told to wait for crude prices to be driven up before they unload their cargo.

'Tankers are off the UK coast and also off the U.S. They are acting as storage tanks. As always, motorists are the victims in this. They are at the end of the food chain.'

The Daily Mail has learnt that 54 tankers are anchored around the British Isles.
Six are off the Essex and Kent coasts, five are moored in Lyme Bay, while four are lurking next to the Isle of Wight.
But the biggest fleet - around 30 ships - lies around ten miles from Southwold, Suffolk in the only waters around the UK where ship-to-ship transfers of oil are allowed. They come from as far afield as Malaysia, Liberia and Singapore - and include 1,000ft vessels capable of carrying more than 300,000tons of oil.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1229337/Petrol-prices-Oil-tankers-loitering-British-coast-lie-wait-price-hikes.html

[izquierdista]

1. Where are U-boats when you need them?

Actually, if there was a boatload of speculators, THAT'S when to load the torpedos and fire.

[mattvermont]

4. where is Robin Hood and his Somalian pirates? nt.

[ddeclue]

9. ...

:wow:

[babylonsister]

2. Isn't this the tabloid that often skewers the truth, or makes it up?

This is outrageous if it's true, but I don't know if I believe it.

[The Sushi Bandit]

6. Daily Mail is more reliable than the Sun or Mirror!

[Roland99]

12. "include 1,000ft vessels capable of carrying more than 300,000tons of oil."

Sounds rather speculative to me.

[Ernesto]

3. This is happin' everywhere

They killed the GOLDEN GOOSE (us)......

[theophilus]

5. How many are waiting of the U.S. coast? Somebody knows. n/t

[cornermouse]

10. How many were waiting off the U.S. coast during our last

oil war or crisis? And as far as I know the media didn't make a peep.

[JuniperLea]

7. Reminds me of ships loaded with booze...

Sitting offshore waiting for prohibition to be lifted... always someone ready to make a buck on the back of the little guy.

[Arctic Dave]

8. I have a " business idea" if anyone is interested.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Slightly off topic, but "Fifth of forth"?!? WTF?

From an English paper, no less.


How about the Firth of Forth instead?

"Fifth of Forth"

:rofl:

[Orsino]

16. Killing time on an oil tanker may involve many fifths. n/t

[MidwestTransplant]

13. They were buying up the oil when the prices dropped in the Spring. There was

a ton of spare tanker capacity at that time. Personally that's better than manipulating the futures market in my mind. This is fair and square.

[marmar]

14. And they complain about Somali pirates !!!!

Corporate pirates have really f**ked up the world.

[Democrats_win]

15. HA! Joke's on them. I've given up my car for the joy of bicycling.

[taterguy]

17. Now you just need to convince 300,000,000 of your friends to do the same thing

Good luck