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Gulf shippers reroute around Hormuz as VLCC freight spikes

VLCC fixing costs for inside-Hormuz cargoes rose to about $31 million per voyage, while Middle East-to-China assessed earnings for a voyage topped $500,000 per day.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Energy

OilPrice reports that Gulf oil producers are increasingly moving crude around the Strait of Hormuz, creating a new mix of operational risk and higher shipping economics.

The outlet links the tighter flow out of the Gulf to VLCC rates that have surged, pushing assessed earnings for a Middle East-to-China voyage beyond $500,000 per day as vessel departures from the Gulf slowed to only a couple of days.

OilPrice also cites Saudi Aramco’s resumed crude loadings at the Ras Tanura export terminal, saying VLCC fixing costs for inside-Hormuz cargoes jumped to about $31 million per voyage, as reflected by the Mongolia Prosperity supertanker.

The report adds that Saudi Aramco loaded at least three VLCCs in the Gulf last week, with shipments offered to Asian buyers via ship-to-ship transfers off Fujairah, and that shipping rates have risen across Asia even as the number of empty VLCCs has dipped to its highest level in five years.

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