Over the past 24 hours the crude tanker market has seen a historic spike, with daily earnings for VLCCs on key Middle East–China routes surpassing $1 million, driven by acute vessel shortages and extreme war‑risk premiums around the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Baltic Exchange data and multiple shipping market reports, the cost of chartering a very large crude carrier (VLCC) on benchmark routes from the Persian Gulf to China has surged to and beyond $1 million per day. On the standard Gulf‑to‑China TD3C route, daily rates have been quoted above $1.035 million, while individual fixtures are reported at levels equivalent to more than $1 million per day. Trade press and regional business media further note that even voyages from the Gulf of Oman to China, which avoid passage through the Strait of Hormuz, have seen daily charter costs around $644,000, with freight costs calculated at up to $11.5 per barrel of crude.
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