Soaring fuel prices from the Iran war are forcing oil traders into longer, stranger journeys, sending cargoes on routes that would normally make little economic sense.
Consider the STI Solace, a 250-meter-long tanker now motoring past West Africa carrying diesel, according to a person familiar with the matter. After loading off the U.K. in the latter half of March, it’s about a third of the way through a trip of more than 12,000 miles to Australia, tracking data from Energy Aspects and Signal Ocean shows.
What makes the shipment particularly eye-catching is the direction of travel: Europe generally pulls in diesel rather than exporting it. But while Europe’s diesel benchmark has soared since the war began, prices in Asia have jumped even more, meaning it can still make sense to send a cargo thousands of miles across the globe.
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