Jones Act tanker idle as Brent, US-crude spread falls

New York

A US Jones Act coastal tanker hired this summer by Delta Air Lines' refining arm has been anchored empty for nearly two weeks in the Gulf of Mexico after weaker European crude markets reopened an arbitrage to ship oil more cheaply to the East Coast.

The 330,000-barrel vessel MR Seabulk Arctic has been waiting to load offshore of Galveston, Texas, since Sept 26, according to data from Thomson Reuters Eikon.