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Persian Gulf Tanker Costs May Advance as Owners Reject Rates |
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Saturday, 14 June 2008 |
 The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world's busiest route for supertankers, may rise for a sixth day as owners refuse to accept current rates. Refineries have arranged to ship eight cargoes for loading in July, compared with a monthly average of about 100, according to a report Friday from Barry Rogliano Salles. There are 44 double-hull supertankers available
for hire within the next 30 days, according to the Paris-based shipbroker.
``The pressure is building up,'' Per Mansson, managing director of
shipbroker Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, said by telephone today. ``A lot of
brokers are sitting on cargoes, but the owners won't take these
rates.''
No double-hull tankers were hired today, according to shipbroker
reports. The London-based Baltic Exchange's benchmark assessment for
voyages to Asia climbed 2.7 percent to 192.03 points yesterday, its
fifth daily advance.
The list of companies with ships for hire in the first half of July is
dominated by owners who have the financial strength and fleet size to
negotiate higher rental rates for their vessels, according to Mansson.
Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for
more than 320,000 specific routes. Flat rates for every voyage, quoted
in U.S. dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale
Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and
exchange rates.
Each flat rate assessment gives owners and oil companies a starting
point for negotiating hire rates without having to calculate the value
of each deal from scratch.
Crude Carriers
At 192.03 Worldscale points, owners of double-hulled very large crude
carriers, or VLCCs, can earn about $152,429 a day on a 39-day round
trip from Saudi Arabia to South Korea, based on a formula by R.S.
Platou, an Oslo-based shipbroker, and Bloomberg marine fuel prices.
Frontline Ltd., the world's biggest VLCC operator, said May 22 it needs $31,500 a day to break even on each of its supertankers.
Bookings for VLCCs sailing from the Middle East to Asia account for 47
percent of global demand for the carriers, according to New York-based
McQuilling Brokerage Partners LLP. Shipments to the U.S. and Caribbean,
the second-biggest market, account for 14 percent of demand for
supertankers.
Source: Bloomberg
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