Tanker rates soar as Saudi's Bahri books up to 14 ships for rising output - sources

Saudi Arabia's National Shipping firm, Bahri, has tentatively chartered as many as 14 super-tankers to ship crude oil to customers worldwide, as the Kingdom follows through with its promise to boost crude oil output. The spike in bookings by Bahri, which owns a fleet of 42 very large crude-oil carriers (VLCC) super-tankers, has helped to more than double super-tankers shipping rates amid this week's 'fixing frenzy', shipping sources said.

VLCC tanker rates along the Middle East Gulf to China route have more than doubled to about $70,000 per day on Wednesday, up from about $30,000 per day on Monday, according to several ship broking sources. Saudi Arabia and Russia both said they would raise production at the weekend after a three-year pact between them and other major oil producers to limit supply fell apart on Friday, sending global oil prices plunging.