Oil Tanker Earnings Plunge by $200,000 as More Return to Hormuz

**Supertanker earnings have plunged 44% in four days, falling from over $514,000 to about $287,000 per voyage, as more vessels risk entering the Strait of Hormuz.** The drop, four times larger than last year’s average daily earnings, signals a return toward normality after months of disruption in the waterway that carries a fifth of global oil. On Friday alone, at least three empty supertankers entered the Persian Gulf to pick up cargoes, the latest sign of easing tensions.</p><p class="summary-lead">**The dramatic rate collapse follows an interim US-Iran peace deal last week that broke a logjam of owners unwilling to cross Hormuz.** Until then, only a handful of operators dared transit, driving benchmark rates to record highs as owners demanded hefty war-risk premiums. One major commodity trader has already launched a legal case against the Baltic Exchange, arguing the benchmark became distorted during the spike.</p><p class="summary-lead">**Despite the plunge, the market remains erratic and far from stable, with bookings inside the gulf emerging only sporadically.** Earlier in the week, one vessel was booked near record highs, then another at roughly half that level—about $470,000 a day—before both deals fell through. A third vessel was fixed at an even lower rate 24 hours later, underscoring that the market is still searching for its true equilibrium. **What to watch next:** whether the trickle of open cargoes becomes a steady flow, and if the Baltic Exchange revises its benchmark methodology in response to the legal challenge.