Cargill has booked Scorpio Bulkers’ kamsarmax SBI Capoeira (82,000 dwt, built 2015) on a four- to six-month period charter at a daily rate of $5,750, brokers say.
The vessel will deliver promptly in Rotterdam and will redeliver in the Gibraltar-Skaw area.
The daily rate is just over a 20% premium on what the vessel could be making in the spot market and is a healthy increase on the ship’s previous charter to Americas Bulk (ABT), during which it was earning $4,500 daily. ABT fixed the vessel on December 9 last year on a trip charter during which the vessel was to carry pig iron.
Conditions in all bulker markets continue to improve and have helped today’s Baltic Dry Index jump another 21 points from Friday’s level to reach 471 today.
The Baltic Panamax Index moved up 28 points to 563. Its weighted timecharter average (TCA) spot rate was assessed at $4,497, an increase of $222 from Friday.
Today saw some 11 new panamax fixtures being reported, seven of which deliver in the Atlantic basin where rate increases on benchmark routes are outstripping those on key routes in Pacific.
