Oil and gas shipping costs soar as Iran vows to close Strait of Hormuz

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SINGAPORE - The cost of hiring a supertanker to ship oil from the Middle East to China has surged to an all-time high of over US$400,000 (S$511,000) a day as the US-Iran conflict intensifies, with

Tehran targeting ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz,

LSEG data showed.

The benchmark freight rate for very large crude carriers on the route, also known as TD3, rose to W419 on the Worldscale industry measure used to calculate freight rates, as at March 2, or US$423,736 a day, LSEG data showed. This is double the rate on Feb 27, which was already at a six-year high before the start of the conflict.

Meanwhile, ship owners and brokers are demanding more than US$200,000 a day for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers in the region, roughly double what they were commanding less than a day earlier, according to people familiar with the matter.

The surge in vessel rates followed

Qatar’s shutdown of LNG production

as the conflict with Iran began to spill across the wider region. No transactions were known to have been booked at the latest offer rates, said the people. Those offer levels were at least three times higher than the last assessed price for an LNG tanker by shipping firm Spark Commodities, which was US$61,500 earlier on March 2.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, which carries around one-fifth of oil consumed globally as well as large quantities of gas, has ground to a near halt after vessels in the area were hit as Iran retaliated against the US-Israeli strike.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards senior official said on March 2 that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and Iran will fire on any ship trying to pass, Iranian media reported. One tanker in the region was ablaze on March 2, at least four others were damaged and about 150 ships were stranded.

The disruption and fears of prolonged closure have caused oil and European natural gas prices to jump, with Brent crude futures up as much as 13 per cent as the conflict triggered multiple oil and gas shutdowns in the Middle East.

About 10 per cent of the world’s container ships are ensnared in the broader backups, and cargo could soon start piling up at ports and trans-shipment hubs in Europe and Asia, Mr Jeremy Nixon, chief executive of container carrier Ocean Network Express, known as ONE, said on March 2.

Marine insurers, meanwhile, are cancelling war risk coverage for vessels.

Companies including Gard, Skuld, NorthStandard, the London P&I Club and the American Club said their cancellations would take effect on March 5.

These cancellation notices mean shipping companies with vessels in the region will need to seek new insurance cover at higher rates to maintain policies.

“As a result of this fast-moving situation, each underwriter is invariably increasing rates or in some instances, for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, even declining to offer terms right now,” said Mr David Smith, head of marine with brokers McGill and Partners.

War risk premiums have risen up to 1 per cent of the value of a ship in the past 48 hours, from around 0.2 per cent last week, industry sources said on March 2, which adds hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for every shipment. REUTERS