Mediterranean Aframax freight rate surge to be halted by Suezmaxes, ballasters

A surge in Aframax freight rates in the Black Sea and Mediterranean is about to be halted by a string of Suezmaxes being offered for 80,000 mt cargoes and by Aframaxes ballasting from the north, shipping sources said.

Rates on the cross-Mediterranean route, basis 80,000 mt, were assessed at Worldscale 200 Tuesday, up w67.5 from Friday. The w200 equates to $13.04/mt, the highest since $13.73/mt November 26.

The primary driver of the rise in rates was bad weather which has caused huge delays for tankers in many locations.

Shipping sources pegged current northbound delays in the Turkish Straits at around 10 days, and southbound delays at nine days.

There are 19 large-sized tankers waiting to pass through the Dardanelles northbound, according to a local port agent, and 23 tankers waiting to go south.

Also, the Algerian port of Skikda reopened Monday afternoon after a three-day closure, while there have also been reports of loading delays at the Italian port of Trieste.

In response to the surging Mediterranean rates, shipowners have been offering Suezmaxes to load 80,000 mt cargoes. This has helped provide a ceiling for Aframax rates and also helped replenish the Aframax position list.

“If you have a cargo for any dates before February 12 you would struggle to find a ship. But it looks OK for the natural Med fixing dates. The position list has grown. There are a lot of owners trying to capitalise on the spike in rates and they are pushing ships into the market,” a shipbroker said.

Shipping sources also said that due to extremely limited inquiry in the North Sea, Aframaxes were ballasting from the region to the Mediterranean to try to take advantage of rates available there, leading sources to say w200 might represent the peak in rates.
Source:Platts