Rents for Suezmax tankers rose to the highest level since March 28, stoking optimism that a broader rally may lift global fleet earnings above breakeven levels, according to Exim News Service.
While average rates for Suezmaxes, each able to haul 1 million barrels of crude, gained 15 per cent to $ 28,805 a day, Aframax tanker (that haul 600,000 barrels) rates rose 2.4 per cent to $ 39,510 a day a few days ago, the highest level since March 3.
Lengthening delays to navigate the Turkish Straits are holding up tankers, curbing availability in the Mediterranean and Black seas and raising rents, London-based shipbroker Braemar Shipping Services Ltd had said recently.
However, the tanker fleet is expanding more quickly than demand for seaborne crude oil imports and won't return to balance until 2013, Oslo-based investment bank RS Platou has forecast. It estimated 2011 earnings will be as much as 57 per cent lower than 2010 for three classes of crude tankers, at or below $16,000 a day.
Operating costs, excluding fuel, for Aframaxes are $ 8,359 a day, rising to $ 10,670 for the largest Supertankers, according to London-based accountant Moore Stephens International.
Finance expenses add an extra $ 9,128 a day to that amount for an Aframax and $ 16,932 for a Supertanker, ICAP Shipping Ltd data shows.
There are 570 Supertankers, 440 Suezmaxes and 904 Aframaxes carrying seaborne crude, estimated at 37.5 million barrels a day this year, according to data compiled by Clarkson Research Services Ltd.