Shipping costs for the Gulf have fallen in the past two days after a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Iran, although rates could rebound if tensions increase, shipping and insurance industry sources said yesterday.
The conflict had raised concerns that Iran could close Hormuz, the strait between Iran and Oman through which around 20 per cent of global oil and gas demand flows amid broader fears that oil could soar to $100 a barrel.
Shipping rates for supertankers, which can carry 2 million barrels of oil, jumped over the past week before the ceasefire – more than doubling to over $60,000 a day. Rates were quoted around $50,000 a day yesterday, freight data showed. “Tanker rates ... have been pulling back following the halt to hostilities between Israel and Iran,” Jefferies analyst Omar Nokta said in a note.
Greece’s shipping ministry yesterday eased requirements for its merchant fleet, no longer advising them to report voyages through Hormuz, saying the situation “appears to have been improved”.
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