Bearish sentiment on the worst day for the Dow since 1987 sent the index down 10% and crushed most of the shipping stocks in its path, overpowering even a $1.5trn intervention by the US Federal Reserve Thursday afternoon.
A few tanker owners stoked by the impending glut in world oil supplies managed to buck the carnage and turn green numbers, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average bled 2,300 points.
After another trading "circuit breaker" halted trading in the morning, the Fed temporarily stemmed some of the losses in the afternoon with announcement of the liquidity plan. Dow losses moderated to about 750 points before plummeting to the day's biggest red numbers.
It was mostly ugly for shipping stocks, again.
Dry bulk owners Eagle (11%), Genco (9%) Star Bulk (5%) and Scorpio Bulkers (8%) all were down on the day. Containership owners Costamare (11%) and Seaspan (1.4%) were also down.
But in a rising market for freight rates in crude and clean products sparked by Saudi Arabia’s oil price cuts, some tanker owners again prospered.
VLCC owners DHT Holdings (7.6%) and Frontline (2%) showed gains, as did product tanker giant Scorpio Tankers (1.7%).
Not everyone was as fortunate, as suezmax specialist Nordic American Tankers (13%), Tsakos Energy Navigation (4%), clean owner Ardmore Shipping (8.6%) and Teekay Tankers (6.5%) were among the losers.
The cruise industry faced another bloody day, with losses by Norwegian Cruise Lines (36%), Royal Caribbean Cruises (32%), Celebrity Cruises (32%) and Carnival Corp (31%).
Oil prices took another fall, with Brent crude down 9% to $32.66 and West Texas Intermediate crude off 6% to $30.95. Oil is headed for its worst week since 2008.
