Mediterranean dirty Handysize freight rates up to near 3-mth highs on tight tonnage

Freight rates to transport 30,000 mt high sulfur fuel oil cargoes in the Black Sea and Mediterranean have risen to the highest levels in just under three months because of a reduction in dirty Handysize availability in the regions.

The Black Sea-Med route increased Worldscale 12.5 to w157.5 Tuesday, the highest level since a w162.5 assessment March 17.

The cross-Med route meanwhile rose w10 to w145, the highest since an identical w145 rate March 18.

Shell was heard to have put the Bauci on subjects at w145 for a Taranto-Med voyage loading June 22-23, while a chartering source said some shipowners were asking for even higher numbers for cross-Med cargoes.

“We are trying to fix a Handy at silly levels. We are being shown w150 for a cross-Med trip,” said the charterer.

According to shipping sources, a substantial increase in charterer inquiry in the past two weeks had lowered Handysize availability, placing a resultant upward pressure on freight rates.

The pool of dirty Handysize tonnage in the Black Sea and Mediterranean also reduced slightly after a few ships were heard to have cleaned their tanks and begun trading in the clean products market in the past couple of months because of the higher returns generally available on the clean side.

“It was a busy week last week and a lot of tonnage got cleared out. Quite a few ships cleaned up and the cargoes have been building up, the rates are correcting themselves,” said a shipbroker.