On the sidelines of the Shipping 2015 conference in Stamford industry veteran Jerry Lichtblau said he is confident that the segment will remain strong throughout the rest of 2015.
When asked which corner of the tanker market looks particularly promising the forecaster singled out suezmaxes as the type of tonnage that will continue to exceed expectations.
Today, suezmaxes fixed to carry crude from West Africa to Europe were commanding roughly $47,000 per day on average in the spot market, according to Clarkson Capital Markets.
In a daily industry briefing the firm’s Manhattan-based shipping analyst, Omar Nokta, noted this is approximately 8% higher than the average seen a day ago.
The Wall Street forecaster pointed out that suezmaxes were fetching roughly $29,000 per day on average 12 months prior, which is why it should come as no surprise that this corner of the market has attracted a great deal of interest in recent months.
Prior to True North Lichtblau was in charge of research and financial analysis at MJLF & Associates for 13 years. Before that he spent more than seven years at Overseas Shipholding Group in the owner's finance department, according to a profile found on True North's website.
