Norway's Equinor is taking advantage of low rates for VLCCs to forge its second period charter in over a month.

Brokers said the the Norwegian energy company has fixed the 312,000-dwt Asian Progress VI (built 2019) for 12 months.

Equinor is to pay Mitsui OSK Lines $30,000 per day for the scrubber-fitted vessel, which will be delivered into the charter in the Far East.

It has been less than a month since Equinor made its last VLCC period deal deal, when the it took the 299,000-dwt Seatriumph (built 2017) from Greek shipowner Thenamaris for a year at R29,000 per day.

Equinor does not comment on commercial deals.

The rate for the Asian Progress VI is somewhat higher than recent market assessments, which have been falling.

The latest assessment by Shipbroker Clarksons puts a one-year time charter of a scrubber-fitted VLCC at just over $27,600 per day as of Friday. That's a dip from $28,625 a week earlier.

As TradeWinds reported on Tuesday, brokers had said that Chinese chartering giant Unipec had fixed the 319,000-dwt Irini N Lemos (built 2019) for a year at $30,000 per day. But the deal is believed to have fallen apart.

Meanwhile, brokers said has fixed the 308,000-dwt newbuilding CS Shandong Venture (built 2021) for 11 to 18 months. The scrubber-fitted tanker is set to earn $34,000 per day.

Oil major Shell has fixed an unidentified VLCC built in 2003 for a storage charter to last up to six months. The rate has not been disclosed.