{
  "id": 13896797,
  "title": "Supertanker Rates Slip From Record Highs",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/supertanker-rates-slip-from-record-highs",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-12T07:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "OilPrice",
    "slug": "oilprice",
    "url": "https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Supertanker-Rates-Slip-From-Record-Highs.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Supertanker rates have decreased from their peak earlier this month, with the cost of hiring a very large crude carrier for a voyage from the Gulf Coast to China falling to $634,974 per day, according to data from the Baltic Exchange reported by Reuters. This figure represents a drop from the previous record of over $637,000 per day on October 8. The high freight charges are negatively impacting demand for U.S. crude oil. The surge in tanker rates this year can be attributed to Middle Eastern producers resorting to ship-to-ship transfers outside the Strait of Hormuz. These transfers involve shuttle tankers, smaller vessels, which ferry the oil through the Hormuz and load it onto supertankers in the Gulf of Oman. Consequently, rates for supertankers traveling from the Gulf to Asia peaked at $1.4 million daily earlier this month. June Goh, a senior oil analyst at Sparta Commodities, attributes the exorbitant increases in VLCC freight rates to inefficient ship-to-ship activities as an alternative to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as increased arbitrage of crude from the Atlantic Basin to the Far East, resulting in lower available tonnage. Goh also notes that freight rates on the Gulf Coast-China route have increased by up to 300%, as have rates on the route from the UAE's Fujairah to Asia. Despite these rising costs, the impact on Asian imports of U.S. crude will be limited due to the absence of other shipping alternatives. \"While the flow from the Strait of Hormuz may still be disrupted, the diversification of crude supplies means that even if the arbitrage looks shut, there will likely be more Atlantic crude flows into Asia,\" Goh explained. Vitol's CEO recently characterized the situation as a transition from a crude crisis to a product crisis, with more crude oil flowing from the Middle East but ultimately becoming a shipping crisis.",
  "summary": "Supertanker rates have retreated slightly after touching an all-time high earlier this month, with the price of chartering a very large crude carrier for a trip from the Gulf Coast to China at $634,974 per day, according to Baltic Exchange data cited by Reuters. This compared to a record of over $637,000 per day on October 8, the publication noted. The record price of transporting crude oil from…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}