More than half of the vessels are very large crude carriers, the workhorses of seaborne oil trade, which can move up to two million barrels each in a single sailing. China is the world’s biggest oil importer, and as demand for oil has fallen during the coronavirus pandemic, VLCC freight rates have tumbled from an average $129,000 a day in March and $176,000 in April to around $15,400 on the benchmark Middle East-to-China route. That is at least $12,000 below average break-even levels for such ships. “We had two ships waiting for more than 40 days to unload in Qingdao and Yingkou,” said a Greek owner, who charters tankers to oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. “The longest we had to wait in the past was a week. They have no space to store the crude and the congestion is severe.” Newsletter Sign-up The […]