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Worldscale
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Worldscale

Worldscale (WS) is the standard tanker freight rate index expressing voyage hire as a percentage of a published flat-rate schedule per Baltic Exchange.

Baltic Exchange assessed the Gulf-to-China TD3C tanker route at WS372 on 17 July, up 27% on the WS293.89 print of 3 July, as Gulf war-risk hull cover widened to 3-10% of hull value from a 3-4% baseline in late June.

Last refreshed: 20 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

When TD3C hits WS458, what does that mean in plain dollars for a supertanker voyage?

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Background

Worldscale is the tanker freight-rate index published annually by the Worldscale Association in London and New York. It expresses spot voyage hire as a percentage of a flat rate calculated once a year in dollars per tonne for thousands of individual routes: WS100 represents 100% of that flat rate for a given voyage, so WS200 means a charterer pays twice it.

Because the flat rate is fixed annually while bunker and port costs move throughout the year, an identical WS quote can represent very different real earnings depending on when in the cycle it is struck. Converting a WS quote to Time Charter Equivalent dollars per day is the standard way desks compare earnings across routes and vessel sizes.

The scale is used across both dirty (crude, fuel oil) and clean (refined product) tanker markets as the common quotation language; without it, every voyage would need bespoke dollar-per-tonne negotiation with no cross-route comparability, which is why Gulf, Baltic and Mediterranean routes are all quoted on the same WS basis.

Common Questions
What does Worldscale mean in tanker shipping?
Worldscale is the annual freight rate scale published by Worldscale Association. WS100 equals the published flat rate (in $/tonne) for a given route, calculated to yield a standard breakeven voyage. Spot rates are quoted as a percentage of WS100 — so WS458 means 4.58 times the flat rate.
How do you convert Worldscale points to dollars per day?
Worldscale points convert to a Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) in dollars per day by calculating the voyage revenue at the WS rate, subtracting port costs, canal tolls, and bunkers, then dividing by voyage days. At WS458.75 on TD3C in May 2026, the TCE was $462,102/day.Source: Lowdown european-oil-markets
Why is the Worldscale flat rate recalculated every year?
Worldscale flat rates are recalculated annually to reflect updated bunker prices, port costs, and canal dues. The annual reset means that the same WS level in different years represents different actual dollar earnings, so traders track TCE (dollars per day) for year-on-year comparisons.
Why do tanker rates use Worldscale points instead of dollars?
Worldscale lets brokers quote any tanker route on the same scale regardless of size or distance, because WS100 is fixed per route in advance. A WS372 quote is instantly comparable across routes without recalculating dollar-per-tonne rates each time.
What does a WS372 tanker rate mean in July 2026?
WS372 on the TD3C Middle East Gulf to China VLCC route, assessed 17 July 2026, means charterers paid 3.72 times the published flat rate, up 27% from the WS293.89 print of 3 July, as Gulf War-risk cover widened.Source: event
Source Material
Worldscale