DHT Holdings Projects Spot Rates of US$509,100 per Day for Fourth Quarter

DHT Holdings, a pure-play VLCC operator, reported that during the third quarter of 2026 its fleet-wide time charter equivalent (TCE) earnings stood at US$141,300 per day. Of that figure, vessels trading in the spot market earned an average of US$167,100 per day, while units under time charter contracts generated US$114,200 per day. These estimates are based on 2,055 revenue days during the quarter, of which 1,054 were spot days.

So far in the fourth quarter of 2026, the company has already fixed approximately 50% of its available spot days at an average rate of US$509,100 per day on a discharge-to-discharge basis. Taking into account both spot and time charter contracts, about 78% of available revenue days have been secured at an average rate of US$225,200 per day. According to Seatrade Maritime, this spot rate level represents a 204% increase over what was achieved in the third quarter.

DHT owns 100% of the 23 VLCCs that make up its operating fleet and also has a newbuilding scheduled for delivery in 2028 at the Hanwha shipyard. According to Tanker International data cited by Seatrade Maritime, the company currently has ten vessels employed in the spot market and six under time charter contracts expiring in the first quarter of 2027. Among recent fixtures, the DHT Opal was chartered on October 7 at US$897,000 per day with Hyundai Oilbank for a voyage from the Red Sea to South Korea via Suez for a total of US$73.9 million, and the DHT Tiger was fixed on October 1 at US$764,000 per day for a voyage from the Gulf to South Korea.

The surge in rates comes amid a VLCC market that Seatrade Maritime describes as affected on multiple fronts by the disruption in the Middle East: attacks by Iran and the Houthis on tankers have raised risks for vessels and their crews, prompting shipowners to demand premiums for operating in the region and driving up insurance costs. Crude exports from the Persian Gulf have increased over the past six weeks, partly due to ship-to-ship transfers from Hormuz onto VLCCs, a scheme that has absorbed additional fleet capacity, as has the decision by some charterers to route Red Sea exports to Asia via the longer Suez route to avoid the Bab El Mandeb Strait. For the week ended October 9, the Baltic Exchange reported that the TD3C Middle East-to-China rate rose 115 points to WS 1,318.75, equivalent to round-trip TCE earnings of US$1.4 million per day.

Against this backdrop, industry media expect DHT's third-quarter results to exceed forecasts, in what they describe as a VLCC market particularly favorable for the company.