The daily rates for chartering a vessel to transport commodities have surged this year, with oil tanker rates skyrocketing by 467%, as shippers of a growing commodity supply are grappling with a series of route disruptions and sanctions.  

Despite the typically weaker commodity demand period toward the end of each year, the last weeks of 2025 don’t show any weakness in the vessel rates for transporting crude oil, LNG, iron ore, or wheat.  

The unusual strength at the end of the year has seen oil tanker rates on the key shipping routes surge by 467% year to date, according to Bloomberg’s estimates based on data from the Baltic Exchange and commodity markets data provider Spark Commodities. 

LNG tanker rates have soared fourfold, while the daily rates for vessels shipping iron ore have more than doubled year to date, the data showed on Thursday.