Crude oil tanker earnings on the major Middle East route remained under pressure on Tuesday as the market struggled to absorb a glut of tankers due to slower business. The world's benchmark VLCC export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan reached W36.71 in the Worldscale measure of freight rates, or $5,550 a day when translated into average earnings. That compared with W36.85 or $5,430 a day on Monday and W38.42 or $8,273 a day last Tuesday. "(VLCC) rates remain at a relatively weak level due to high vessel availability," Pareto Securities said. In January, average earnings reached just over $61,000 a day - their highest since February 2010, before the rally lost steam.