Fare of oil ship coming to India increased 9 times
The booking of a giant ship (supertanker) carrying crude oil from the Persian Gulf to India has created a stir in the shipping industry. This ship has been booked at almost 9 times more fare than the normal fare. This supertanker of South Korean company ‘Sinocor’ has the capacity to carry about 2 million barrels of oil. It has been booked at 897 percent of the benchmark rate (897 Worldscale points). That is, if the fixed standard fare is $ 1 per barrel, then 897 Worldscale Points means that the company is now charging $ 8.97 per barrel for the same work.
Huge crisis of ships in the sea
After all, why did such a big crisis of ships suddenly arise? The main reason for this is the recent war. The situation started worsening after the Iran war started in late February. Due to this, the important sea route ‘Strait of Hormuz’ had to be closed for about three months. Due to this closure, most ship owners sent their fleets to other safe sea routes. Now that the situation is gradually changing, it is taking several weeks for those ships to reach back to the Persian Gulf. For this reason, the availability of empty ships there has become extremely limited.
freight reached record high
In the shipping industry, freight charges are calculated on the basis of ‘worldscale rates’. It is scheduled every year for fixed routes from the Persian Gulf to China or Singapore. Ships are booked as a percentage (also called points) of this base rate. According to shipbrokers, this booking of Sinocor has been done at the base rate of the Persian Gulf to Singapore route, which has reached 897 percent. This is a figure which has surprised the market. However, no official response has come from Sinocor’s Seoul or Singapore offices regarding this huge deal.
There was competition after the war stopped
Last week an interim agreement was reached between America and Iran. After this agreement, there has been a sudden movement in the oil market. Buyers who had been waiting to release their stuck oil cargoes since February are now increasingly looking for tankers. At the same time, oil producing countries are also in a hurry to increase their exports. Sinocor is playing a very active role in this entire incident. The company has introduced its large ships (VLCC) to load oil from Basra Terminal in Iraq till June 24. This indicates that the company is confident of passing through the Strait of Hormuz, even though traffic there has not yet fully returned to normal.
