Shipbrokers say the Sinopec offshoot hired the 300,000-dwt Delta Millennium (built 2000) for a voyage from West Africa to China at Worldscale 33.5.
The Chinese petroleum trader was also linked to a fixture involving the 309,400-dwt Antonis (built 2001), which earned Worldscale 34.5 to transport crude along a similar route.
Yesterday, Unipec picked up Delta Tankers' 111,000-dwt Delta Pioneer (built 2004) and the 166,500-dwt Hrvatska (built 2005) from Tankerska Plovidba of Croatia in deals minted at similar levels.
According to Dahlman Rose, VLCCs trading between the Middle East and China are achieving around $8,543 per day in the spot market while ships working routes tying West Africa to the US Gulf are currently seeing daily averages of approximately $18,184.
