A Glencore-chartered MR tanker is on a detour of thousands of miles to avoid delays at the Panama Canal.
The 50,000-dwt High Loyalty (built 2015) left Chile early in November and is due in New York on 14 December, shipping data reveals.
The d’Amico International Shipping vessel is carrying a fuel cargo.
The ship has been chartered by Glencore unit ST Shipping.
The tanker has now passed through the Strait of Magellan at the southern point of the continent, according to Bloomberg.
Glencore has not commented.
The fixture is a rare one in tanker trades.
The last time fuel was moved from Chile to the US north-east was in spring 2022, data from consultancy Kpler showed.
Japanese owner Kasuga Shipping’s 50,000-dwt Aquila L (built 2018) carried petrol through the Panama Canal to New York, partly discharging en route.
Crossings being cut
Drought restrictions are limiting the number of daily transits at the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal Authority is reducing the number of crossings from 24 per day this month to 18 in February.
An auctioned slot went for nearly $4m earlier in November.
Container ships and LNG carriers are likely to receive priority, shipping players believe.
VLGC rates have been hitting record levels due to the delays.
Shipping analysts say an average one-way voyage between the US Gulf and Asia is 30 days through the canal, but ships are likely to be rerouted around Africa, which will take 44 days.
