US-China Tanker Hire Hits $80 Million, Overtaking $74 Million SpaceX Launch
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Oct 10
US-China Tanker Hire Hits $80 Million, Overtaking $74 Million SpaceX Launch
3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Oct 10
Summary
$80 million is now the going cost to hire an oil tanker from the US to China, an extreme benchmark for a market Bloomberg described as worsening by the day.
Gibson said that voyage now costs more than a standard SpaceX Falcon 9 launch at about $74 million, underscoring how distorted crude shipping economics have become.
The same $80 million could have bought a near-identical tanker outright earlier this year, showing how freight costs have detached from vessel values.
Record supertanker rates have been driven by the Iran war and longer, less efficient trade routes that keep ships tied up and deepen the global tanker shortage.