Clean
In the Middle East Gulf the LR dynamics look to still be favouring voyages west at the moment. TC1 75k Middle East Gulf / Japan, after plateauing at a shade over WS300, then dropped incrementally into the high WS290s at the end of the week. The LR1s have followed suit with their larger sisters. TC5 55k Middle East Gulf / Japan halted at WS320 midweek and has then resettled to around the WS315 mark. The LR1s heading west have held strong all week, rising from around $4.75m to $4.95m.
The MRs of TC17 look to have drifted into a quieter mode this week and subsequently we have seen the Index drop 25 points to WS390. West of Suez on the LR2s, TC15 80k Mediterranean / Japan saw a further upside as tonnage looked more toward the firmer Middle East for employment. The benchmark ended up at $4.79m (+$883K) by the end of the week and breaching $20,000 /day TCE.
The LR1s of TC16 60k Amsterdam / Offshore Lomé, crept up consistently this week to WS240.71 (+16.42), a round-trip TCE of $37,521 /day. On the UK-Continent MRs softened a little following some charters failing subjects and the tonnage list lengthening. TC2 37k UK-Continent / US Atlantic Coast rose from WS327.22 to WS335 midweek, then took a downturn ending up at WS321.11. TC19 moved in tandem to TC2 and was pegged at WS335.57 by end of week.
The USG MR market has been muted in open activity this week. TC14 38k US Gulf / UK-Continent lost 55.71 points to WS174.29 and TC18 the MR US Gulf / Brazil haemorrhaged 85 points to WS220.
The Baltic Handymax market was a little more active with TC9 30kt Primorsk / Le Havre seeing a 42.86 point rise to WS425. In the Mediterranean, TC6 30kt Skikda / Lavera has been stable this week holding around the high WS290s – low WS300s.
VLCC
VLCC rates continued to lose ground this week. 280,000mt Middle East Gulf/USG (via Cape of Good Hope) is assessed a point lower at the WS22.5 level, while the 270,000mt Middle East Gulf/China trip is valued 2.5 points down at just above the WS40 mark (a round trip of TCE of minus $10,800 per day). In the Atlantic the rates were also slightly reduced with 260,000mt West Africa/China now rated a point less at a fraction below WS43.5 (minus $6,300 per day round-trip TCE). For the 270,000mt US Gulf/China voyage the market dropped $150k to $5,137,500 (a round-voyage TCE of minus $8,600 per day).
Suezmax
Rates for the 135,000mt Novorossiysk/Augusta fell seven points this week to just under WS127 (a round-trip TCE of $30,100 per day). In West Africa, meanwhile, the 130,000mt Nigeria/UKC market continued to climb steadily gaining seven points to a little over WS90, which shows a round-trip TCE of $9,200 per day. For the 140,000mt Basrah/West Mediterranean route the rates have remained flat at WS45.
Aframax
The 80,000mt Ceyhan/Mediterranean market fell back this week, losing 12.5 points to around the WS145/147.5 region (a round-trip TCE of $21,300 per day). In Northern Europe the rate for 80,000mt Hound Point/UK Continent shed 12 points to settle in the WS142.5/145 range (a round-trip TCE of $18,800 per day). In the Baltic Sea, with the ongoing war in Ukraine and imminent UK and European sanctions coming into effect, rates for 100,000mt Primorsk/UK Cont trip continue to be assessed by our panellists and have the route a meagre four points lower at a little below the WS205 mark (a round voyage TCE of $57,300 per day). Across the Atlantic, the Aframax market continued the downward trend. Rates for the shorter-haul 70,000mt EC Mexico/US Gulf route eased 3.5 points to WS141.5 (a round-trip TCE of $7,700 per day) and for the 70,000mt Caribbean/US Gulf trip rates slipped 2.5 points to WS136.5 (a round-trip TCE of $6,200 per day). For the transatlantic trip of 70,000mt US Gulf/UK Continent, rates are marginally down one point to the WS136.5 level ($9,000 per day round-tip TCE).
Source: Baltic Exchange