Noah Parquette said the ships were contracted to hold an estimated 40 million barrels of crude as of 21 January.

While oil price contango has led to renewed use of VLCCs for floating storage, the analyst said the $43,000-per-day average rate for such contracts is about 35% lower than spot rates so far this year.

“As charter rates increase for VLCCs, the added costs to traders could impact the interest for floating storage as shipowners may prefer to take advantage of the stronger spot market,” the analyst said in a note to clients.

Oil