CAPTION : The tanker Hyundai Ecopia leaves the exporting terminal in Balhaf carrying Yemen's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment November 7, 2009 - REUTERS
A surplus of supertankers competing to collect 2 million-barrel cargoes of Middle East oil expanded for the first time in four weeks and freight rates slumped the most since August as demand slowed.
There are 11% more vessels for hire than cargoes needing collection over the next 30 days, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of five shipbrokers and two owners today. That’s up from an estimated 10% surplus on Nov. 2.
Vessel demand stayed at a “zombie-like level” last week because of oil-industry meetings in Singapore, Oslo-based shipbroker PF Bassoe AS said in a report e-mailed late Nov. 6. “The result was that tonnage began building again with an ensuing downward pressure on freight rates.”
Charter rates on the industry benchmark Saudi Arabia-to- Japan route slumped 17% to 39 Worldscale points last week, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. That was the biggest one-week drop since the week ended Aug. 28.
Returns after fuel costs from the voyage fell 53% to 11,370 a day, according to the bourse. For the fifth time this year, income has dropped below the 11,603 a day that London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants estimates owners need to pay crew, insurance, repairs and other running costs.
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 US 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.
Returns from leasing suezmax tankers that haul 1 million- barrel cargoes fell 19% to 20,445 a day last week, according to the Baltic Exchange. The vessels carry half as much as a very large crude carrier. Aframaxes that transport 650,000- barrel cargoes doubled to 3,634 a day.
