The shift in seaborne crude oil volumes was rather obvious during 2022, with the surge of exports from Saudi Arabia quite notable. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “2022 has turned out to be a very positive year for crude oil trade, despite the surging oil prices and risks of economic recession. In the full 12 months of 2022, global crude oil loadings went up +8.5% yo-y to 2,047.3 mln tonnes, excluding all cabotage trade, according to vessels tracking data from Refinitiv. This was well above ...

McQuilling Services is pleased to announce the release of its 26th anniversary edition, 2023-2027 Tanker Market Outlook. This 168-page report provides a detailed analysis of oil fundamentals, global economic and geopolitical context in addition to tanker demand and supply projections across eight vessel classes. The interaction of tanker demand and vessel supply variables is processed using advanced quantitative modeling to produce a five-year spot and time charter equivalent (TCE) forecast for eight vessel classes across 24 benchmark tanker trades, plus four triangulated trades. Also included in the report is a ...

Shipping companies should be looking at carbon strategies – both compulsory and voluntary – today as impactful legislation is fast approaching. That was the message from a joint Baltic Exchange-Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers webinar, where expert speakers examined the carbon markets and their impact on freight. James Blunt, head of voluntary carbon, shipping and aviation, at Redshaw Advisors, outlined the two main current carbon compliance markets that shipping needs to be aware of: the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the UK ETS, which he described as an ...

China’s reopening after the Lunar New Year celebrations, is expected to offer a boost in the freight rate market. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Xclusiv Shipbrokers said that “as the Lunar New Year was celebrated in China, the dry bulk and tanker markets continued moving south. Since the beginning of 2023, the BCI has lost 66%, while the BPI, BSI, and BHSI have reduced by around 30% touching levels not seen since June/July 2020. Furthermore, in the tanker market, the BCTI is down by around 44%, whilst the BDTI ...

Accelerating digital development and evolving expectations are driving rapidly rising demand for maritime connectivity, presenting both challenges and opportunities for the global shipping industry. The shipping industry needs to take a strategic approach to connectivity in order to meet its evolving business needs. This was the ethos of a thought-provoking interactive seminar on the state of play in the maritime connectivity market hosted by Inmarsat and moderated by Joshua Flood, Co-Founder & Senior Research Consultant at Valour Consultancy. The Future of Maritime Connectivity session explored the reasons for, and ramifications ...

The FBX Global index was stable to start the year, ticking up 2% to $2,214/FEU in January, as slowing declines on the Transpacific coincided with some rebound in Asia – N. Europe rates. This rate is 77% lower than a year ago, but still 38% higher than in 2019. Transpacific rates fell moderately this month. This was as East Coast congestion continued to resolve and the absence of any pre-Lunar New Year (LNY) demand increases, despite more blanked sailings. Transpacific rates fell moderately this month. This was as East Coast ...

Ship owners have returned to shipyards for new orders, as evidenced by the volume of ordering activity reported. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “this week saw continued interest in PCTC vessels, with four new orders being placed at Chinese shipyards and Grimaldi Group declaring the options for 5 vessels originally reported last year. News has almost spread of a unique sailing cargo ship with a budget, according to the Neoline press release, of over 60 million euros. Considering its capacity of just 1200 linear metres ...

After a volatile 2022, leading shipbroker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) looks at the next 11 months and highlights areas of particular interest in their 2023 Outlook Report. Contributions come from a range of senior research and broking experts and cover: Dry Bulk, Tankers, Derivatives, LNG, Chemicals, Sale & Purchase, Decarbonisation and Finance. Stanko Jekov, SSY Managing Partner, said: “The fallout from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine resulted in serious repercussions throughout 2022 and will undoubtedly continue to have a major effect well into 2023. While COVID-19 looks to be behind ...

“Despite falling 1.1% m/m in both November and December, US retail sales volumes remain 13% above 2019 levels and 6% higher than the pre-COVID trend. However, sales volumes could return to trend during 2023 and thereby pose a risk for Asia to North America container volumes,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO. Supported by COVID stimulus packages and mobility restrictions limiting spending on services, retail sales volumes in the US have remained on average 15% higher than 2019 levels since early 2021. Combined with a 28% increase in ...

Activity in the ship recycling market has retreated even further during the past week, as the New Year celebrations in China, curbed demand. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “a quiet week has been experienced due mainly to the Lunar New Year holidays that have taken place, but with dry and wet freight markets earning more positive plaudits from analysts, the supply side for ship recyclers looks set to continue to frustrate”. “Whilst there remains much confusion surrounding the actual sale of the 10 Wan ...

January proved to be a dramatic month for long-term ocean freight rates, with the latest data from the Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®) showing the largest ever month-on-month declines. According to the XSI®, which is based on crowd-sourced data from leading shippers worldwide, average long-term contracted rates dropped by 13.3% in January. This is now the fifth month in a row of falling prices on the index, with, Xeneta warns, little sign of change ahead in what looks set to be a challenging year for carriers. Shippers in the driving seat ...

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Olympic Shipping and Management SA (OSM) have signed an Impact Partnership Agreement, committing to a five-year collaboration to accelerate shipping’s decarbonisation across geographies. Onassis Foundation-controlled Greek owner OSM is the first Greek ship owner and manager to come onboard GCMD as a centre-level partner. OSM’s current fleet comprises 18 crude oil tankers. As an Impact Partner, OSM will provide a cash contribution towards pooled resources for GCMD’s projects, as well as in-kind contributions in terms of technical expertise and data and access ...

China’s iron ore imports retreated by an additional 1% during 2022. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “2022 was a rather negative year for global iron ore trade, primarily due to weaker demand worldwide and supply issues in Brazil. In January-December 2022, global iron ore loadings declined by -2.3% y-o-y to 1,519.4 mln tonnes, excluding cabotage, from 1,554.4 mln t in 2021, according to vessels tracking data from Refinitiv. Volumes were almost at par with the 1,525.6 mln tonnes shipped in 2019, but below the 1,557.2 ...

The annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table, published today from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), highlights a 25% increase in flag states reporting on seafarer labour standards compared to last year. Each year flag states must report on labour standards as part of their ILO audit commitments. Some of the labour standards specific to seafarers include repatriation of seafarers, accommodation provision, health protection and medical care. This year 67.6% of flag states reported on their ILO audit commitments, an increase of 25% on the previous year where only ...

The 9th session of the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC 9) was held from 23 to 27 January. SDC 9 agreed to extend the requirements for on-board emergency towing devices to all ships over 20,000 gross tonnage to reduce the risk of drifting and grounding in case of an emergency. A revision of the interim explanatory notes to the Safe Return to Port requirements were initiated, intending to improve unified implementation of the concept that passenger ships shall be able to return safely to port after a ...