Shipping experts are ‘highly worried’ about rising military tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, surging rates, and the impact on energy-dependent Asia
- Daily vessel lease rates for supertankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz have shot up in the wake of June 13 attacks
- Daily lease rates could jump by a further US$10,000, or a third more, according to one expert
The cost of chartering very large oil tankers to sail through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf may rise by as much as a third, as shipowners and charterers pass on rising insurance and fuel costs following recent tanker attacks that threaten a vital artery for global energy supplies, according to experts.
Tim Huxley, director of Mandarin Shipping, said charter rates for supertankers, could go up by as much as US$10,000 per day, lifting the current benchmark for very large crude carriers (VLCC) on the Persian Gulf to China route from its current level of US$17,739.
Bloomberg reported that oil futures climbed 5.4 per cent in New York on Thursday after Iran shot down a US military drone that Iran says was in its airspace. The US said the drone was operating in international airspace.
“It is an incredibly worrying development,” said Huxley. “There are [ship] owners already saying they don’t want to go there [The Persian Gulf]. No owner wants to put their crew at risk – there will come a point where owners don’t want to do it.”
Shipping lines were already on tenterhooks after two tankers operating in the gulf suffered mysterious explosions on June 13, one month and a day after four attacks occurred in the same region. The US blamed Iran and its regional proxies for the explosions, accusing Tehran of using limpet mines – a mine that attaches to a ship’s hull with magnets – on the tankers. Tehran has vehemently denied that it had anything to do with the attacks.
Both ships were carrying petrochemical supplies to Asia. One was bound for Taiwan, the other for Singapore.