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Oil tanker chartering from the US to China now costs more than space launch

Such high price is explained by a global shortage of tankers driven by the aggravated situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the news agency said

NEW YORK, October 7. /TASS/. The cost of chartering an oil tanker to carry the commodity from the US to China is about $80 mln now, Bloomberg news agency said.

Such figure is $6 mln above launching a SpaceX’ Falcon 9 rocket into space. Such high price is explained by a global shortage of tankers driven by the aggravated situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the news agency said. Oil companies of the Middle East have to make ship-to-ship transfers by the "shuttle" method, which increase the duration of every voyage by about a week.

"There’s really not quite enough shipping to go around," Bloomberg said, citing Vitol CEO Russell Hardy.