Teekay Tankers To Load Vessel In Libya In Next Couple Of Days

LONDON (Dow Jones)–A Suezmax vessel owned by New York-listed Teekay Tankers Ltd (TNK) is still scheduled to load at a Libyan port over the next couple of days despite port closures by the country’s head of state Col. Moammar Gadhafi, a company spokesperson told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

“We have a suezmax scheduled for Libya in the next couple of days,” Priscilla Sharun said.

All ports, including Zawia, Tripoli, Benghazi and Misurata, were closed Tuesday, traders in Libya said, with force majeure declared on all imports of gasoline and gas oil.

Exports of crude appear to be continuing–vessels that can’t dock are stacking up in Malta and Gibraltar, although tanker firms are still taking bookings and say they expect vessels to be able to enter and leave without problems as port workers opposed to Gadhafi seek to keep a key component of Libya’s economy intact.

Teekay Tankers is the world’s largest owner of medium-sized crude oil tankers and is a subsidiary of Teekay Corporation. The company currently owns a fleet of double-hull aframax tankers and double-hull suezmax tankers and one VLCC, which a subsidiary of Teekay Corporation manages through a mix of short- or medium-term fixed-rate time-charter contracts and spot tanker market trading.