VLCC owners managed to get the Worldscale rate back up over the w50 mark Wednesday after the freight levels on the key Persian Gulf-North Asia routes fell briefly to w46.5 Tuesday, which was based on an S-Oil fixture, shipping sources said. "The market is looking better today [Wednesday]. Charterers tried to fix [their cargoes] last night under w55. But they couldn't fix their cargoes. It is very difficult to get a vessel below w55," a chartering source said. A rush of close to 10 cargoes late Tuesday gave a glimmer of hope to the owners with a fixture on the double-hulled Hakkaisan, which saw Japanese charterers Fuji Oil paying w54 to move a 270,000 mt crude cargo, loading August 1-2, on the Persian Gulf-Japan route. South Korean charterer S-Oil Tuesday put the La Prudencia on subjects for a Persian Gulf-South Korea voyage, loading July 27-29, at w46.5. "Still many cargoes are unfixed and owners are asking [for] more now," a VLCC broker said.
The benchmark Persian Gulf-Japan route was assessed at w49 Tuesday. "Over 10 cargoes came into market at the same time for the end of the month lifting and it is not flexible to move the stem dates to August," another VLCC broker said referring to uptake in the activity levels. Sources said although there is ample tonnage availability, charterers could end up paying a little more if they try to pick and choose their vessels.
"I thought the market will go down further but the owners psychologically don't want the w50 level to break," a source with a VLCC owner said. "W55 is relatively an acceptable number in the market, which charterers will have to pay."
Separately, a chartering source with an Asian refiner said that it was difficult to get the lower rates done earlier. "The owners' [rate] ideas are going up ever though there is surplus tonnage," the source said, adding that the market had fallen by almost w70 points during the last 15 trading days. However, the source with a VLCC owner said that the market for August 1-10 loading window could be weak with many vessels available for trading during this period.
The benchmark Persian Gulf-Japan route was assessed at w49 Tuesday. "Over 10 cargoes came into market at the same time for the end of the month lifting and it is not flexible to move the stem dates to August," another VLCC broker said referring to uptake in the activity levels. Sources said although there is ample tonnage availability, charterers could end up paying a little more if they try to pick and choose their vessels.
"I thought the market will go down further but the owners psychologically don't want the w50 level to break," a source with a VLCC owner said. "W55 is relatively an acceptable number in the market, which charterers will have to pay."
Separately, a chartering source with an Asian refiner said that it was difficult to get the lower rates done earlier. "The owners' [rate] ideas are going up ever though there is surplus tonnage," the source said, adding that the market had fallen by almost w70 points during the last 15 trading days. However, the source with a VLCC owner said that the market for August 1-10 loading window could be weak with many vessels available for trading during this period.