Is oil glut causing super-tanker 'car park' off Anglesey?

Oil carrying super-tankers have turned the coast off Anglesey into a sea ‘car park’.

The east side of the island is often a sheltered place for ships to anchor as they wait to enter the port of Liverpool.

But this week ship spotters have seen a particularly large number of oil tankers anchored off Moelfre.

At one stage there were seven vessels in close proximity off the coast.

Oil Tankers of the coast of Moelfre, Anglesey on tuesday.

One onlooker said: “It is unusual to see so many tankers all anchored off the coast, there must be a something of a queue to get into Liverpool port.”

A source said the situation could be related to a current glut in the oil market which has seen prices slide to $45 a barrel – the lowest figure for five months, which has been good news for motorists as fuel prices fall.

Several of the vessels are due to dock in Merseyside where crude oil is received for the Stanlow oil refinery.

Oil tankers off the coast of Moelfre, Anglesey on Monday afternoon

There are two berths (Tranmere North and South) used to unload the oil to storage tanks within the terminal, after which it is pumped 15 miles by pipeline to Stanlow.

Tranmere handles a total of 140 ships each year.