$1 million daily charter rate for a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz

Bloomberg – The cost of chartering an oil tanker on the standard route in the sector surpassed $1 million a day for the first time, as the US-Iran war has caused a shortage of ships ready to transit the Strait of Hormuz to load cargoes.

Tankers transporting oil from within the territorial waters of the Arabian Gulf to China were chartered at $1.035 million per day, according to data from the London Baltic Exchange.

This standard route has become less significant during the war, as the main route for exporting Arabian Gulf oil has shifted to transferring cargoes via Hormuz and delivering them to tankers waiting outside the strait, which are reluctant to transit it.

However, transporting crude to China from the Gulf of Oman, which does not require passing through this vital waterway, costs approximately $644,000 per day. In previous periods of market weakness, these vessels barely covered their operating costs.