Persian Gulf Tanker Rates May Advance as Owners Withhold Ships

By Alaric Nightingale

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia may advance from a three-week high as owners delay leasing their vessels and demand strengthens.

An increase in vessel bookings since last week has reduced the supply of carriers that can load cargoes next month, Charlie Fowle, a director at London-based shipbroker Galbraith's Ltd., said in an e-mailed note today.

``Owners now have the confidence to take it up and hold off offering,'' Fowle said. Recent gains are taking the market ``to what it should be'' after the benchmark rate for Saudi Arabian cargoes to Japan plunged as much as 73 percent between July 1 and Aug. 21, he said.

Sinochem Corp., China's largest chemicals trader, hired the tanker Darab for 90 Worldscale points, according to a report today from Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers. That's little changed from the Baltic Exchange's benchmark rate of 90.31 points for cargoes to Asia.

Worldscale points are a percentage of a nominal rate, or flat rate, for more than 320,000 specific routes. Flat rates for every voyage, quoted in U.S. dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.

Each flat rate assessment gives owners and oil companies a starting point for negotiating hire rates without having to calculate the value of each deal from scratch.

A rate of 90.31 Worldscale points equates to daily rental income after fuel and port fees are paid out of $27,705 a day for the average very large crude carrier, or VLCC, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.

The index fell to 65.94 points on Aug. 21 from 244.53 on July 1. Daily rental income from the ships dropped to about $5,290 on Aug. 22, according to the exchange.

Frontline Ltd., the world's biggest VLCC operator, said Aug. 21 it needs $31,400 a day, including finance costs, to break even on each of its supertankers. Excluding fuel and port costs, daily expenses such as crew, insurance and routine repairs total $11,500 per ship, Frontline said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at Anightingal1@bloomberg.net