Baltic Consults on Benchmark Tanker Route as War Upends Rates

The Baltic Exchange in London is consulting the shipping market about making changes to its benchmark tanker rate after the Iran war closed the Strait of Hormuz, rendering part of the normal trade route inaccessible.

The normal route assessment is from the port of Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia to Ningbo in China, but with the Strait of Hormuz all but closed to shipping, the Persian Gulf, where the loading facility is located, has become off limits.