SINGAPORE: Commodities trading firm Glencore has chartered a supertanker to load Middle Eastern crude for ​Asia, according to ⁠a shipping source and LSEG data, likely the first oil tanker ‌to be fixed for the route since the ceasefire in the U.S.-Iran war.

The Asian ​Lion, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) capable of holding 2 million barrels of oil, ​is heading ​to the Middle East, LSEG data showed.

Glencore chartered the tanker at W580 on the Worldscale industry measure used to calculate freight rates, according ⁠to a shipping source and LSEG data. Spot VLCC shipping rates on the route, more commonly known as TD3C , were at about W230 on February 27, before the war started, LSEG data showed.

The demurrage fee is at $580,000 ​per day, ‌the source said. Demurrage ⁠is a ⁠charge paid to the ship owner in the event that a vessel exceeds the ​amount of time agreed for loading and unloading a ‌cargo.

Glencore could not be immediately reached for ⁠a comment on the vessel fixture.

Shippers on Wednesday said they needed more clarity on the terms of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire before resuming transit through the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran said the waterway remained closed to vessels sailing without a permit.

Iran said it would offer safe passage in coordination with its armed forces, though its coastguard warned on Wednesday that any ship attempting to sail without permission would be "targeted and destroyed".

Iran's ‌Revolutionary Guards navy posted a map showing alternative shipping ⁠routes in the Strait of Hormuz to help transiting ​ships avoid naval mines, the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA said early on Thursday.

The six-week conflict brought traffic through the strait - a chokepoint for about ​20% of global ‌oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments - close to ⁠a standstill, pushing global energy prices ​sharply higher.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)