A sure sign of a spiking tanker market can be evidenced from the number of eyeballs on the VLCC fixtures app developed by Tankers International, with the popular, free software getting plenty more mentions this week as rates head north. Twitter impressions for the Tankers International feed, which shares a lot of top-line app data, have increased by 150% month-on-month.
Yesterday saw 10 VLCCs reportedly fixed on subs, sending freight rates exponentially upwards, both for Europe-directed voyages but mostly for eastbound trades into Asia. The momentum has continued today with Tankers International’s app recording plenty more tankers taken on subs.
The Baltic Exchange vessel earnings for its main VLCC indices all shot up yesterday. The TD3 from the Middle East Gulf to China, for instance, jumped by $11,386 on a timecharter equivalent basis to $30,472 a day.
Even non-eco VLCCs are now making money for the first time since autumn 2020, according to analysis by brokers Lorentzen & Co.
“There should be more to go on the upside, with the Asian markets reportedly saturated with Russian-originated oil and requiring more crude from other sources such as the Middle East Gulf, West Africa and the US Gulf,” a daily markets update from the Norwegian shipbroker stated today.
“Spot fixture volumes in the Arabian Gulf have returned to pre-pandemic levels during the past two months while US Gulf fixture activity is approaching record levels,” an update from Jefferies pointed out yesterday, something also picked up by the CEO of tanker giant Frontline.
