Supertanker Surplus Increases, Cutting the Chance of a Rally in Hire Rate

A surplus of supertankers competing to load 2 million-barrel cargoes of Middle East crude oil expanded for the first time in four weeks, undermining owners’ efforts to secure better hire rates.
There are 15 percent more very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, for hire over the next 30 days than there are cargoes, according to the median estimate of seven shipbrokers and owners surveyed by Bloomberg News today. A week ago the excess was 10 percent.
Freight rates declined 0.8 percent to 49.57 Worldscale points today on the benchmark Saudi Arabia-to-Japan route, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. Rental income slid 7.6 percent to $14,978 a day, according to the bourse.
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Source: Bloomberg