Freight Costs Soar to $1.4M Daily as Tanker Shortage Deepens Oil Crisis
Supertanker rates have reached a record $1.4 million per day on Persian Gulf to East Asia routes, surging 40% in early October. This spike is driven by ship-to-ship transfers near the Strait of Hormuz, which tie up vessels for weeks and create a global shortage of tankers. The resulting scarcity has pushed U.S. to China freight costs to $76 million per cargo, roughly ten times pre-war levels, adding tens of dollars per barrel to oil prices.
