Tankers: VLCCs Easing, While Clean Tankers on the Rise

This week, tanker rates have experienced some fluctuations across various routes. The VLCC rates in the Middle East market have softened slightly, with the TD3C route decreasing from WS1,165 to WS1,157.5. The TD34 route also saw a slight decrease of 6 points to WS797.86. In the US Gulf to China route (TD22), rates have increased by $500,000, resulting in a daily round-trip TCE of $407,100.

Meanwhile, the Suezmax sector is facing softer rates across Baltic routes, with the TD20 route decreasing from WS435 to WS430, resulting in a daily round-trip TCE of around $228,400. In the Black Sea, the TD6 route remains stable around the WS500 mark, with a daily round-trip TCE of approximately $368,000. The North Sea route for the 80,000 mt Cross-UK Continent route (TD7) has seen a considerable increase of 112.5 points to WS416.67, resulting in a daily round-trip TCE of near $306,600.

Additionally, several other routes such as the East Coast Mexico/US Gulf, Covenas/US Gulf, and trans-Atlantic routes have seen gains, with daily round-trip TCEs ranging from $147,800 to $165,100. The Vancouver exports routes have also experienced significant increases, with the 80,000 mt crude oil Vancouver to China route rising by over $100,000 to just over $7,800,000 and the 80,000 mt crude oil Vancouver to Pacific Area Lightering point off the US West Coast route gaining 15 points to WS467.5.