Congestion for Dry Bulk Carriers at Rotterdam has soared due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Since the outbreak of war in late February, the average waiting time for a Bulker at Europe’s busiest port has often been above the high end of its three year range. But over the seven week period from May 9th to …

It has been reported by several agencies that grain from Ukraine is being loaded in Sevastopol, a major terminal in the province of Crimea, currently controlled by Russia. However, this is difficult to determine as the vessels in the relevant area of the Black Sea are increasingly operating in the ‘dark’. Going ‘dark’ refers to …

Introduction The economic environment for global trade has profoundly shifted in the past year. Recovering demand from the pandemic has collided with supply side constraints in many industries, inflation and interest rates are rising, and the Ukraine war, together with sanctions on Russia have disrupted global commodity flows. Amid the myriad uncertainties, perhaps the most …

To celebrate the much awaited return of Posidonia after 4 years, we take a look at how the Greek fleet has developed since the last event in 2018, using VesselsValue data. From 2018 to 2022, the value of the Greek owned fleet increased by 92%. This is a considerable increase considering the fleet only grew …

Bidding wars for Car Carriers are driving rates up to record highs never before seen in the sector. Eastern Pacific’s Lake Wanaka (4,902 CEU, May 2008, Xiamen Shipbuilding Ind) was fixed for 1 year at 50,000 USD/Day to Volkswagen in March. A premium of 10,000 USD/Day compared to the larger, younger Lake Geneva (6,178 CEU, …

Tongues are wagging in the Offshore sector this week, as one of the longest running rumours in the market has finally come true. Tidewater Marine (USA) has acquired Swire Pacific Offshore (Singapore) for USD 190 mil, the company’s biggest powerplay since its acquisition of GulfMark Offshore back in 2018. But why SPO, and why now? …

The Ukraine crisis has sent global gas prices sky rocketing, but there may be bigger forces at work in the seaborne LNG market. While the world awaits developments on pipeline supplies, ship tracking data on seaborne LNG volumes may assuage the worst fears. The European benchmark TTF gas price has risen 135% so far in …

Demand for Clean Tankers has shifted up another gear, as the Ukraine crisis intensifies. As Russian troops amassed at the border with Eastern Ukraine last month and hostilities commenced on February 24th, the MR Atlantic Basket (an average of freight rates on key routes in the Atlantic Basin) climbed steadily from a January 25th low …

Introduction 2021 was a record breaking year for the Maritime industry. The spread of three major Covid-19 variants had substantial repercussions for Shipping: labour shortages, port congestion and volatile oil demand, to name but a few. Responding to the fast changing nature of global trade, the newbuilding orders of 2021 have reflected a world littered …

Introduction and Overview The Shipping markets saw unprecedented volatility during 2021 with time charter rates reaching all time highs in the Container and LNG markets, and decade highs in the Dry Bulk markets, before giving up a large portion of those gains at year end. The Tanker markets have truly been a story of two …