Tanker owners are switching to the clean trades which are experiencing multi-year highs thanks to the Red Sea shipping crisis.
A total of 25 suezmax/LR3s and two VLCCs are currently carrying clean petroleum products (CPP) or have carried CPP as their latest cargo, according to Vortexa. Braemar estimates that another 12 suezmaxes and five VLCCs will transition to clean trades and load CPP, primarily in the Middle East and India.
“Red Sea attacks on shipping and the subsequent rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope have lifted East to West LR CPP rates to multi-year highs. In contrast, crude tanker rates have remained relatively stable, while VLCC freight rates are at their lowest levels in 2024,” Braemar noted in a tanker update.
“Trading houses have played a crucial role in instigating these switches in an effort to raise profitability by leveraging economies of scale,” analysts at Vortexa suggested.
