Oil tanker rates on the key Middle East-to-China route surged this week to the highest level since November as vessel supply is tightening and persistent tensions around Iran put shippers on alert.
The daily rate for an oil tanker to ship crude from the Middle East to China jumped to as high as $129,000 on Monday, up by 5.1% on the day, to the highest level since November 2025, per data from the Baltic Exchange cited by Bloomberg.
Rates had already soared by over 60% in a single day on Friday amid the U.S.-Iran tensions, which sent Brent Crude prices to $70 per barrel last week when U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran that a “massive armada” of U.S. Navy ships is headed to the Persian Gulf.
The Iran-U.S. war premium put shipowners and charterers on alert.
Although tensions eased this weekend after President Trump said that he believes Iran is “seriously” talking with the U.S., tanker rates haven’t slumped.
Supply of vessels for near-term charters remains constrained, pushing earnings for available tankers higher, according to analysts.
“With fewer vessels available for immediate hire, the remaining independent shipowners have gained significant pricing power,” Wanying Zhang, freight analyst with the ship-tracking platform Vortexa, told Bloomberg.
The fading war premium, for now, could push tanker rates lower later this week. But the vessel supply tightness is still there, supporting higher freight rates.
Oil tanker rates have jumped so far this year, picking up where they left off in 2025 – multi-year highs amid growing supply, longer routes, and disruptions due to sanctions and altered shipping lanes.
At the end of 2025, the global supertanker market tightened as crude supply from the OPEC+ group and the Americas rose, and vessels were making increasingly longer trips.
Shipbrokers and analysts expect oil freight rates to remain elevated this year as new geopolitical developments are upending crude flows and tanker markets.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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