Supertanker Pays Record $4.6 Million to Skip Panama Canal Line

By Nicholas Lua, Lucia Kassai and Weilun Soon (Bloomberg) – An empty gas supertanker paid a record $4.6 million to skip the line at the Panama Canal next week as the Iran war and an intensifying El Niño upend global trade routes.

The fee, paid via an auction process, will allow the liquefied petroleum gas tanker G. Arete to speed through to the Caribbean side of the canal from the Pacific Ocean, according to traders, brokers and a shipping report seen by Bloomberg. It’s the second large sum paid this week after a shipper earlier shelled out $4 million for