Ship-to-Ship Transfers Offer a Route for Global Oil Deliveries

Transferring oil directly between vessels at sea provides a way to move supplies onward to countries around the world without unloading them on land at that stage of the journey.

These ship-to-ship operations are carried out mainly for crude oil. The process involves one vessel passing its cargo to another while offshore.

The transfer is not limited to a single vessel size. Either a small or a large ship can deliver oil to another vessel, allowing the cargo to change ships during its journey.

Although presented as a new means of delivering oil, the method has previously been used for multiple purposes. Its central feature remains the same: moving cargo from one ship to another at sea rather than routing that exchange through a land-based terminal.