Things might not be going the way of VLCC owners at the moment, but all they have to do is hold on till the end of summer.
Despite slumping rates for the largest crude tankers — including one fixture with a dayrate below zero — Fearnleys sees room for optimism, advising owners to “ride out the summer”.
“The summer doldrums continue. Slow demand, Chinese ships for Chinese cargoes, and many other deals remain mysteries with no rates reported,” the shipbroker said in its weekly report.
“However, it is not all doom and gloom. The [Middle East Gulf] volume count is normal for this time of year, rates are often softer and the paper numbers for 2nd half 2024 are trading [Worldscale] 62.”
It said there were 62 fixtures last week, down four from the past several weeks, in which the figure held flat.
The broker added that 155 VLCCs would be available for loading in the Middle East Gulf in the next week, flat from last week.
On Thursday, Clarksons’ VLCC fleet weighted average read $33,600 per day, flat day over day and up 2.5% from last week, but down more than 38% from last month.
Its Middle East Gulf to China route assessment fell to $28,500 per day for an eco-designed VLCC and to $30,500 per day for a scrubber-fitted eco ship.
Data from Tankers International shows 10 fixtures made this week so far.
The latest was for SK Shipping’s 314,000-dwt C Challenger (built 2013), which was fixed to Unipec at -$22,964 per day for loading in mid-July for a voyage from the Middle East Gulf to South Korea.
The pool said the fixture was a relet for Unipec.
Only two of the 10 were estimated by Tankers International to be money-making, both from Dynacom.
On Monday, the Greek manager’s 300,000-dwt Texas (built 2012) was fixed to Vietnam’s NSRP refinery for $52,216 per day, and on Wednesday its 300,400-dwt Sake (built 2005) was fixed to Nayara Energy for $35,145 per day.
Both ships are expected to load in the Middle East Gulf in early July.
The Texas is set to sail to Vietnam, while the Sake will sail to the west coast of India.
