LONDON—The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world’s busiest route for supertankers, may curb a two-day decline because refineries still need to book most of the ships they need for March loading.

Refineries have reserved 38 very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, for loading in March, Paris-based ship broker Barry Rogliano Salles said in an e-mailed report today. The number of ships available within the next 30 days has halved to 65 from a month earlier, data from the broker showed.

“I still believe the market has potential,” Per Mansson, a tanker broker at Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, said in an e-mailed note today. Supply of VLCCs is “balanced” with demand, he said.

Chevron Corp., the second-largest US oil company, hired the tanker Astipalaia for 120 Worldscale points for a cargo to Singapore, according to a report last week from Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers Ltd. That’s 2.8 percent above the London-based Baltic Exchange’s assessment of 116.72 points for the same voyage.

Astipalaia is fitted with a double hull to cut the risk of an oil spill. The exchange’s assessment, for ships up to 20 years old, also takes into account carriers fitted with a single hull that are typically cheaper. Of the 478 VLCCs built recently, 347 were fitted with full double hulls, according to Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay data on Bloomberg.

The benchmark shipping rate, which is for voyages to Japan, has declined for the past two trading days.

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.

At 116.72 Worldscale points, owners of double-hulled VLCCs can earn about $74,468 a day on a 25-day roundtrip from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, based on a formula by R.S. Platou, an Oslo-based shipbroker, and Bloomberg marine-fuel prices.

Frontline Ltd., the world’s biggest VLCC operator, said February 15 it needs $31,400 a day to break even on each of its supertankers.

Bookings for VLCCs sailing from the Middle East to Asia account for 47 percent of global demand for the carriers, according to New York-based McQuilling Brokerage Partners Llp. Shipments to the US and Caribbean, the second-biggest market, account for 14 percent of demand for supertankers. (Bloomberg)

CA junks PPA bid to dismiss damage suit by Batangas residents in port zone

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has junked a petition filed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) seeking to dismiss the complaint for damages filed by another group of residents whose properties were expropriated to allow the expansion of the Batangas port zone.

TOKYO—Most Japanese people oppose whaling expeditions to the Southern Ocean and are unaware the government provides a subsidy of about ¥500 million ($4.6 million) for its research program, a Greenpeace survey found.

CHICAGO—Transocean Inc., the world’s largest offshore oil and gas driller, said fourth-quarter net income jumped 70 percent as record crude prices and a scarcity of deep-water rigs lifted rents. The company’s shares had their biggest gain in more than five years.

AFTER agreeing to pay more for trucking services, logistics companies will ask their partners to enhance their safety measures by using better tires and proper lights and acquiring newer vehicles altogether.

BARGES carrying crude shipments were advised to shift to moving other types of fuel if they fail to provide additional protection against oil spills, a shipping official said.

LONDON—The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world’s busiest route for supertankers, may curb a two-day decline because refineries still need to book most of the ships they need for March loading.