Tenth Shell Tanker Joins Signal Maritime Pool

The Signal Group said Wednesday that its shipping arm Signal Maritime has taken commercial management of Silver London, its 10th Shell medium-range (MR) tanker, increasing the pool’s fleet size to 15.

According to Signal, the partnership allows Shell to benefit from its seven-year investment in the development of digital technology for chartering vessels.

The addition of the energy major’s tonnage as well as a cargo contract into a third-party pool is a first for Shell and a milestone for Signal. The deal was concluded following six months of discussions and detailed due diligence. Signal said the move has already attracted significant interest from other shipowners looking to leverage its technology powered platform for their own fleets.

Signal Maritime’s CEO, Panos Dimitracopoulos, said, “Signal Maritime is a tanker pool built to blend tech with chartering knowhow. This exciting journey with one of the world’s biggest oil companies started with Shell first subscribing to the Signal Ocean software platform and seeing impact on its in-house chartering performance. The next and bigger step was to commit its MR tankers to the pool run by us.”

Alongside trade performance, Signal's digital platform is also allowing Shell and Signal to work on further reducing the partners’ environmental footprint and increase efficiencies in numerous workflows across the company.

Signal Group chief executive, Ioannis Martinos, said, “Having demonstrated success in our Aframax pool, we were now presented with the chance to take proven solutions and adapt them to the realities of the MR market. The bigger the pool, the greater the possibility of vessel triangulation and reduced ballast voyage legs resulting in an improved bottom line for both the shipowners and the environment.”