The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world’s busiest route for supertankers, may drop in coming days because the majority of April’s bookings have been completed with ships left to spare.

Sixty-nine very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, have been hired to load from Middle East ports this month, leaving about 45 to go, according to a report today from Paris-based shipbroker Barry Rogliano Salles. As many as 85 VLCCs can reach the region by April 30, according to the shipbroker.

“We’re moving into the quiet period of the month when basically 70 percent’’ of April’s vessels have been hired, Per Mansson, a tanker broker at Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, said in an e-mailed note today. Hire rates will likely drop about 8 percent until May cargoes boost demand in about 10 days, he said.

Petron Corp., the Philippines largest refiner, hired the double-hull tanker Universal Prime at a rate of 129 Worldscale points for a cargo to the Philippines. That’s 2 percent above the London-based Baltic Exchange’s benchmark assessment of 126.41 points for voyages to Asia.

Single-hull tankers, a smaller segment within the exchange’s assessment than double-hull vessels, cost between 100 and 105 points to hire, according to Barry Rogliano. Tankers with two hulls normally cost more to hire because they cut the risk of an oil spill.

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 U.S. dollars a ton, are revised annually by the Worldscale Association in London to reflect changing fuel costs, port tariffs and exchange rates.

Hire 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 126.41 Worldscale points, owners of double-hulled VLCCs can earn about $93,446 a day on a 39-day round trip from Saudi Arabia to South Korea, 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 U.S. and Caribbean, the second-biggest market, account for 14 percent of demand for supertankers. (Bloomberg)

DOLE agency’s abolition gains support

A group of former ship captains and an association of manning agencies have supported the proposal of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to either abolish the Maritime Training Council (MTC) or pare down its powers in handling seafarers.

THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said its net income in January increased on more containerized cargoes handled during the month, but its operating expenses kept on increasing.

Australia’s Newcastle port, the world’s biggest coal-export harbor, increased shipments of the fuel by less than expected in the first quarter as wet weather and lack of available coal crimped loadings early in the period.

The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world’s busiest route for supertankers, may drop in coming days because the majority of April’s bookings have been completed with ships left to spare.