To the Editor,

What our good friend Mr Panayides forgets [in his Viewpoint: It is time for change: the end of Worldscale for tanker fixtures] and does not know is the history of why and how Tanker Rate Scales came into being.

Before World War II, tanker rates — like dry cargo freights — were calculated in shillings and pence per ton during the time when there were few major trades on few routes and vessels were fixed from port to port.