Against the backdrop of rapidly escalating developments in the Middle East, shipping markets are reacting to the crisis with significant upward pressure on rates.
Freight rates and ship values now incorporate increased geopolitical risk, with tankers moving on a trajectory of further increase, due to soaring war risk premiums and massive bypasses of critical sea routes, as Xclusiv Shipbrokers pointed out in its analysis in “N”. For example, several brokers’ chatrooms report a VLCC from Sinokor as fixed for a voyage from the Arabian Gulf to Asia (AG-East) at 550,000 dollars per day.
A Suezmax is also reported as fixed for the same route, at over 320,000 per day.
If both voyages go ahead, the freight market would register historic highs in both cases.
At the same time, the derivatives market reflects heightened volatility, with March Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) for VLCCs hovering around 400,000 per day, indicating that participants are pricing in sustained exceptionally high levels over the coming weeks.
Source: Naftemporiki