COSCO SHIP ENGY (01138) surged nearly 7% in the afternoon session, trading at HKD 10.94 by press time, up 5.19%, with a turnover of HKD 186 million. Analysts noted that increased crude output from the Middle East and South America over the past two months, coupled with tighter U.S. sanctions on Russia prompting India to shift imports from Russian oil to Middle Eastern and U.S. Gulf sources, has directly benefited compliant VLCCs and driven freight rates sharply higher. Recent bookings for mid-December cargoes from the Middle East have intensified, pushing VLCC-TCE rates on the Middle East-China route above USD 140,000 last week. With Q4 2025 VLCC-TCE rates averaging over USD 90,000, crude tanker earnings are projected to reach their highest level in a decade.