Scrubber-fitted VLCCs have been fixed on short time-charters at lower rates lately, with severe oversupply still plaguing market sentiment, according to market sources.
Litasco, Lukoil’s trading arm, was reported to have taken DHT Holdings’ 314,200-dwt DHT Redwood (built 2011) for four to six months at $26,500 per day last week.
Also, Global Energy Maritime was said to have chartered the 302,700-dwt Gem No 5 (built 2017) to Trafigura for three months at $25,000 per day.
Those fixtures compare with the 297,600-dwt Hudson (built 2017), which according to VesselsValue was just fixed on a six-month charter at $28,000 per day on 20 October.
“Some owners believe that there is no imminent fourth-quarter spike, and have looked keen to grab what they can,” Braemar ACM said in a note.
“We have seen a couple of shorter-term fixtures … and these fixtures continue to reset the market lower.”
Giuseppe Rosano, director of period-market specialist Alibra Shipping, said: “It’s a case of getting what you can.
“Some owners that had always been talking about very high numbers were [finally] talking about market-level numbers last week.”
DHT and Trafigura declined to comment on the fixture. TradeWinds has approached Lukoil for comment.
Scrubber-fitted VLCCs are estimated to fetch a premium between $1,000 and $2,000 per day in short charters, pending on the delivery locations of vessels.
“The advantage of a scrubber these days is really minimal, and nowhere near what people were expecting last year. And the returns on a scrubber investment are totally not there,” Banchero Costa head of research Ralph Leszczynski said.
Overall, the tanker market remains depressed amid renewed demand worries, as several major European economies are entering lockdowns.
According to Fearnley Securities, spot VLCC earnings for the Middle East Gulf-Kore route were assessed at $8,600 per day on Tuesday, close to daily operating costs.
There has been talk of floating storage demand following the sell-off in prompt oil futures last week, but market sources suggest owners and charterers would struggle to reach a deal.
Assuming a 5% margin on contango play, Clarksons Platou Securities calculated the three-month storage rate for a VLCC would need to be $17,400 per day – higher than spot earnings but below the prevalent period rate.
“The storage rate is too low to be acceptable for shipowners now,” said a tanker owner.