As charter rates soar to $1M a day, crude oil trader pivots to buying ships

Trafigura is moving from chartering tanker capacity to owning it, launching Volare Shipping with six very large crude carriers and eight more on order in a $500 million capital-raising and planned listing on the Oslo exchange. The move is a notable strategic shift for one of the world’s biggest commodity traders at a time when oil-tanker availability, freight costs and control of shipping capacity have become central to crude-trading economics. Volare will operate a fleet of 14 very large crude carriers, marking a deeper move by the commodity trader into vessel ownership as disruptions from the Iran war push tanker charter rates to record levels of as much as $1 million a day. That is more than a month’s revenue for most charterers, said Francis Higgins, managing director of Ashford Advisory LLC. Volare begins with six VLCCs in operation and eight newbuildings scheduled for delivery between 2026 and 2028.